noun
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a person or thing that wastes
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a ne'er-do-well; wastrel
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an article spoiled in manufacture
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of waster
1300–50; Middle English < Anglo-French wastere, wastour ( see -or 2); later understood as waste + -er 1
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.
See Examples For:
The renewables biofuel factory was intended to produce sustainable aviation fuel and diesel from waster, but faced unfavourable market conditions.
From Barron's ● Oct. 30, 2025
And it doesn’t have to be another unending time waster or money pit project.
From Seattle Times ● Jan. 3, 2023
For example, spongy bone tissue is found in the inner layer of bones and contains blood vessels to deliver nutrients and remove waster from bone cells.
From Textbooks ● Jun. 9, 2022
Keep in mind that we always find that the biggest money waster is failing to shop around; our undercover price shoppers routinely find cost differences in the thousands for the same projects.
From Washington Post ● Oct. 12, 2021
The ranch was still a hang-out for every waster in the country.
From The Land of Strong Men by A. M. (Arthur Murray) Chisholm
The message, which was said to be deleted shortly after it was posted, also included a list of meet-up points and the statement "time wasters will be blocked".
From BBC ● Nov. 26, 2025
West in efforts to crack down on water wasters.
From Seattle Times ● Jun. 9, 2023
The other countries in the top five wasters have also been slow even to set a baseline to measure progress.
From Reuters ● Nov. 15, 2022
Now lunch and planning periods are filled with meetings, trainings and other useless time wasters.
From Washington Post ● Jul. 6, 2022
A utilities committee levied one-cent fines on wasters of water and electricity.
From "Cheaper by the Dozen" by Frank B. Gilbreth Jr. and Ernestine Gilbreth Carey
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