wasted
Americanadjective
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done to no avail; useless.
wasted efforts.
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physically or psychologically exhausted; debilitated.
to be wasted by a long illness.
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Slang. overcome by the influence of alcohol or drugs.
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Archaic. (of time) gone by.
adjective
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not exploited or taken advantage of
a wasted opportunity
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useless or unprofitable
wasted effort
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physically enfeebled and emaciated
a thin wasted figure
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slang showing signs of habitual drug abuse
Other Word Forms
- unwasted adjective
- wastedness noun
Etymology
Origin of wasted
late Middle English word dating back to 1400–50; waste, -ed 2
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
“Harvard sued us. Harvard stonewalled us on document requests to which we were entitled. Harvard is defiant. And they’ve wasted time with settlement negotiations that I believe were not in good faith.”
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 27, 2026
A report by Kenya's auditor general last year found more than $260 million had been wasted just on penalties and interest from late debt payments.
From Barron's • Mar. 21, 2026
The couple wasted no time snapping up a new home after they sold the four-bedroom, five-bathroom Toluca Lake, Calif., dwelling they purchased from fellow actor Kiefer Sutherland in 2022 for $8 million.
From MarketWatch • Mar. 20, 2026
The investigation concluded that public money was wasted and patient safety was "negatively impacted" because a checklist-based system known as HAI-Scribe was not used properly in the early stages of the project.
From BBC • Mar. 19, 2026
At the far side, Taran distinguished meager clumps of wasted trees.
From "The Black Cauldron" by Lloyd Alexander
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
