squanders

verb

present tense third-person singular of squander
1
as in spends
to use up carelessly squandered all her money gambling in casinos

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in disperses
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 squanders Over and over, Levinson squanders opportunities for humanization or interiority in favor of provocation. — Inkoo Kang, New Yorker, 28 May 2026 Trapping individuals in endless cycles of exclusion and financial hardship squanders potential, reduces tax revenue and widens disparities. — Brian Fabes, Chicago Tribune, 24 Apr. 2026 Too bad, because along the way Borgli squanders some fine performances. — Moira MacDonald, Twin Cities, 4 Apr. 2026 However, while singular moments are presented with clarity, the film often squanders its emotional momentum. — Siddhant Adlakha, Variety, 12 Mar. 2026 Instead, the movie squanders Knight’s talent for delivery and hands him an awkward slapstick bit that feels like work just to watch. — Alison Foreman, IndieWire, 5 Dec. 2025 Either the Broncos offense wakes up, or this team squanders all of the goodwill from beating the Eagles last week. — Joe Nguyen, Denver Post, 12 Oct. 2025 But Team Blue ultimately squanders their lead, completely botching the puzzle as the other two tribes smoke theirs. — Nick Caruso, TVLine, 1 Oct. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for squanders
  1. spends
  2. disperses
  3. loses
  4. wastes
Verb
  • In other words, someone who exercises regularly but also spends many hours each day watching television still has additional risks for worse cognitive health because of their passive sedentary behavior.
    — Katia Hetter, CNN Money, 8 Aug. 2026
  • Pizzini explained that because Carol spends so much of the story barricaded inside, the home was designed with an interior atrium to preserve natural light after the windows were shuttered.
    — Deadline, Deadline, 7 Aug. 2026
Definition of spends
Verb
  • The Shark Lab eliminated sight (limited horizontal visibility) and odor (disperses too quickly in water) as the reason a shark might react from so far away.
    — Rosanna Xia, Los Angeles Times, 30 July 2026
  • The sounds of fighting draw closer; the dinner party disperses.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 14 July 2026
Definition of disperses
Verb
  • If a contractor loses enough workers to delay a project, the demand for everyone else on that project can fall with them.
    — Eva Roytburg, Fortune, 7 Aug. 2026
  • One core argument is that because roster spots are fixed and because fall rosters are largely set by this point in the summer, an athlete from the class returning to college and taking a roster spot would harm the player who loses the spot.
    — Michael McCann, Sportico.com, 7 Aug. 2026
Definition of loses
Verb
  • The same on-premises assumption wastes money in a second way.
    — Michael Leone, Forbes.com, 7 Aug. 2026
  • Donating unsuitable items wastes time and resources, so focus on clean, usable pieces.
    — Abby Monteil, The Spruce, 28 July 2026
Definition of wastes

Browse Nearby Words

squandering
squanders
square
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Squanders.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/squanders. Accessed 11 Aug. 2026.

Copy Citation

More from Merriam-Webster on squanders

Nglish: Translation of squanders for Spanish Speakers

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

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

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

7 Pairs of Commonly Confused Words

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

Is that lie 'bald-faced' or 'bold-faced'?

'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

It's a Scorcher! Words for the Summer Heat

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Words of the Week - Aug. 7

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World
See More

Popular

See More

7 Pairs of Commonly Confused Words

The Longest Long Words List

It's a Scorcher! Words for the Summer Heat
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
fridge-magnet-letters
Drop a Letter Quiz August 2026 Drop a letter from a word to make a totally diffe...
See All