misspending

verb

present participle of misspend
as in spending
to use up carelessly warned that a childhood spent hanging around indoors was a misspent youth indeed

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of misspending The measure’s primary backer, SEIU-UHW, argues the clinics are misspending funds on items like executive compensation that should go towards patient care. — Sofia Williams, Sacbee.com, 1 Oct. 2026 Glen Gilzean, who left his Orange County post accused of misspending millions in taxpayer dollars, has been tapped as the new CEO of the Juvenile Welfare Board of Pinellas County. — Alexa Coultoff, The Orlando Sentinel, 7 Apr. 2026 Another is the surprising fact that no Florida law specifically prohibits public officials from misspending public funds on political advertising. — Sun Sentinel Editorial Board, Sun Sentinel, 23 Jan. 2026 There are literally a million better ways to stop food waste than partnering with a family that has been convicted of felonies for misspending nonprofit money. — Emily Barnes, USA Today, 24 Sep. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for misspending
  1. spending
  2. losing
Verb
  • The actress was recently photographed while spending some time in the Hamptons last Friday, just weeks after turning 91.
    — Lori A Bashian, FOXNews.com, 25 Oct. 2026
  • But for our customers, spending time in a boring appliance of a car might be the real madness.
    — New Atlas, New Atlas, 25 Oct. 2026
Definition of spending
Verb
  • Aside from briefly losing the seat for one term nearly a decade ago, Valadao has hung onto the seat.
    — Seema Mehta, Los Angeles Times, 24 Oct. 2026
  • For this year’s show at Compton Verney, Cadogan has taken inspiration from British people who’ve written to her about losing beloved trees in their own gardens, or public spaces.
    — Samantha Conti, Footwear News, 24 Oct. 2026
Definition of losing

Browse Nearby Words

misspend
misspending
misspends
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Misspending.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/misspending. Accessed 29 Oct. 2026.

Copy Citation
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of shindig

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

How to Use 'Who' vs. 'Whom'

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World

Why do we 'bury the lede?'

'Za' and 9 Other Words to Help You Win at SCRABBLE
See More

Popular

See More

How to Use 'Who' vs. 'Whom'

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
different halloween monsters in silhouette
A Monstrous Vocab Quiz Words That Go Bump in the Night
See All