squandered

verb

past tense of squander
1
as in spent
to use up carelessly squandered all her money gambling in casinos

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in dispersed
to cause (members of a group) to move widely apart a single blast of the shotgun squandered the herd of deer

Synonyms & Similar Words

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 squandered Chicago embarrassed Philadelphia, while the Eagles squandered a late lead against the Rams before suffering an improbable loss to the Jaguars in London. — Outkick, FOXNews.com, 18 Oct. 2026 Drew Rasmussen squandered a two-run lead on the mound, Tampa Bay's bullpen let the game get away and the Rays stumbled to a 7-3 loss against the Cleveland Guardians in their American League Championship Series opener Monday night. — ABC News, 13 Oct. 2026 The Falcons held a 23-15 lead with less than one minute to go, squandered it, then fell 30-23 in overtime to the Ravens (4-1) on Sunday night at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. — Daniel Flick, AJC.com, 12 Oct. 2026 The Dodgers squandered home-field advantage and a chance to take control of the National League Division Series, losing 3-2 to the Atlanta Braves at Dodger Stadium and evening the series. — Maddie Lee, Los Angeles Times, 5 Oct. 2026 Last season yielded a different kind, as the Astros squandered a seven-game division lead at midseason and missed the playoffs. — Matt Kawahara, Houston Chronicle, 27 Sep. 2026 Israelis poured into the streets, outraged that Netanyahu had squandered opportunities to reach a deal that might have saved them. — Ruth Margalit, New Yorker, 19 Sep. 2026 There’s so much potential in American Hostage, mostly squandered. — Daniel Fienberg, HollywoodReporter, 19 Sep. 2026 The Guardians squandered a 4-2 lead but climbed to within one run entering the ninth. — Zack Meisel, New York Times, 16 Sep. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for squandered
  1. spent
  2. dispersed
  3. lost
  4. wasted
Verb
  • The network known as Fairshake spent $40 million in 2024 to unseat Brown, then the Senate Banking Committee chair; after Brown lost, crypto antagonist-in-chief Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts replaced him as the panel’s top Democrat.
    — Eleanor Mueller, semafor.com, 28 Oct. 2026
  • His campaign has a budget of about $30,000 and has spent $7,000 on advertising, running a spot on streaming services in four Texas counties where Libertarians have fared better in recent elections.
    — Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 28 Oct. 2026
Definition of spent
Verb
  • Riot police dispersed protesters using tear gas, stun grenades, and water cannons.
    — News Desk, Artforum, 21 Oct. 2026
  • For an intervention dispersed through a harbor and out to sea, that may be as close as the ocean gets to a meter reading.
    — Alec Luhn, Scientific American, 20 Oct. 2026
Definition of dispersed
Verb
  • Germany lost its status in science in the 1930s when many leading physicists fled from fascism.
    — Mattanjah de Vries, Chicago Tribune, 28 Oct. 2026
  • Between 2023 and 2026, Florida has lost 80,000 students, returning to 2016 enrollment levels.
    — Letters to the Editor, The Orlando Sentinel, 28 Oct. 2026
Definition of lost
Verb
  • If Republicans lose big next month, there’ll be a brawl to assign blame — which consultants blew it, which ads wasted money, which issues didn’t work.
    — David Weigel, semafor.com, 21 Oct. 2026
  • If that is impossible for systems much larger than atoms, many of humanity’s current technological efforts would be wasted.
    — Philipp Strasberg, Scientific American, 20 Oct. 2026
Definition of wasted

Browse Nearby Words

squander
squandered
squanderer
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Cite this Entry

“Squandered.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/squandered. Accessed 28 Oct. 2026.

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