squander

Syllables: squan·der/ˈskwɒnd.ə/US/ˈskwɑn.dɚ/

squander verb: to waste, lavish, splurge; to spend lavishly or profusely; to dissipate.

Verb

squander (third-person singular simple present squanders, present participle squandering, simple past and past participle squandered)

(transitive) To waste, lavish, splurge; to spend lavishly or profusely; to dissipate.
- .
- Dost thou love life? Then do not squander time, for that's the stuff life is made of.
Synonyms:

waste, lavish, splurge, slather, throw away, make ducks and drakes of, play ducks and drakes with, blow

Antonyms:

conserve, hoard, save
(obsolete, transitive) To scatter; to disperse.
- […]our ſquander’d Troops he rallies:[…]1681, John Dryden, The Spanish Fryar: Or, the Double Discovery. […], London: […] Richard Tonson and Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC, Act I, page 2
(obsolete, transitive) To wander at random; to scatter.
- […]The Wiſe-mans folly is anathomiz’d / Euen by ſquandring glances of the foole.c. 1598–1600 (date written), William Shakespeare, “As You Like It”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount...

squander meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Urdu and Bengali

squander in Urdu

اسراف, فضول خرچی, اللے تللے کرنا, پھینکنا

squander in Bengali

অপব্যয় করা, অপচয় করা

More languagesFewer languages

squander in Malayalam: പാഴ്ച്ചെലവുചെയ്യുക, വിതറുക, പൊടിയാക്കുക
squander in Kannada: ದುಂದುಮಾಡು, ವ್ಯಯಮಾಡು, ದುರ್ವ್ಯಯ ಮಾಡು, ಪೋಲುಮಾಡು
squander in Punjabi: ਲੁਟਾਉਣਾ luṭāuṇā
squander in Odia: ଫୁଙ୍କିବା phuṅkibā
squander in Persian: بر باد دادن bar bâd dâdan, هدر دادن hadar dâdan

Examples of squander in a sentence

Don't squander the gold of your days, listening to the tedious, trying to improve the hopeless failure, or giving away your life to the ignorant, the common, and the vulgar.1890, Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray, page 24:
As the game opened up, Bolton squandered a fine opportunity to equalise - Chris Eagles shooting straight at Szczesny - but then back came Arsenal.2011 September 24, David Ornstein, “Arsenal 3 - 0 Bolton”, in BBC Sport:

All 27 example sentences with squander

Synonyms of squander

waste
lavish
splurge
slather
throw away
make ducks and drakes of
play ducks and drakes with
blow

Antonyms

All synonyms and antonyms of squander

Forms of squander

third-person singular present	squanders
present participle	squandering
past participle	squandered
past	squandered

Past tense of squander: squandered

Origin of squander

Earliest uses (late 16th c.) "to spend recklessly or prodigiously", also "to scatter over a wide area". Of unknown origin. Perhaps a blend of scatter + wander. Compare Danish skvætte (rare)/skvatte (“to splash”) (nominalised: skvæt), Icelandic skvetta (“to squirt”), Swedish skvätta (“to splash”), Norwegian Bokmål skvette.

Words formed from squander

Words that rhyme with squander

Questions about squander

What does squander mean?: Squander means to waste, lavish, splurge; to spend lavishly or profusely; to dissipate.
What is squander in Hindi?: Squander in Hindi is लुटाना (luṭānā). See Squander meaning in Hindi.
How do you use squander in a sentence?: Don't squander the gold of your days, listening to the tedious, trying to improve the hopeless failure, or giving away your life to the ignorant, the common, and the vulgar.
What part of speech is squander?: Squander is a verb.
How do you pronounce squander?: Squander is pronounced /ˈskwɒnd.ə/ (UK).
What is the past tense of squander?: The past tense of squander is squandered.

Words near squander in the dictionary

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-squander.wav.

Cite this entry: “squander.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/squander. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.