Synonyms for waste

Synonyms for (noun) waste

Synonyms: waste, wastefulness, dissipation

Definition: useless or profitless activity; using or expending or consuming thoughtlessly or carelessly

Usage: if the effort brings no compensating gain it is a waste; mindless dissipation of natural resources

Similar words: activity

Definition: any specific behavior

Usage: they avoided all recreational activity


Synonyms: waste, permissive waste

Definition: (law) reduction in the value of an estate caused by act or neglect

Similar words: human action, human activity, deed, act

Definition: something that people do or cause to happen


Synonyms: waste, wastefulness, thriftlessness

Definition: the trait of wasting resources

Usage: a life characterized by thriftlessness and waste; the wastefulness of missed opportunities

Similar words: improvidence, shortsightedness

Definition: a lack of prudence and care by someone in the management of resources


Synonyms: waste, wasteland, barren

Definition: an uninhabited wilderness that is worthless for cultivation

Usage: the barrens of central Africa; the trackless wastes of the desert

Similar words: wild, wilderness

Definition: a wild and uninhabited area left in its natural condition

Usage: it was a wilderness preserved for the hawks and mountaineers


Synonyms: waste, waste material, waste matter, waste product

Definition: any materials unused and rejected as worthless or unwanted

Usage: they collect the waste once a week; much of the waste material is carried off in the sewers

Similar words: material, stuff

Definition: the tangible substance that goes into the makeup of a physical object

Usage: coal is a hard black material; wheat is the stuff they use to make bread


Synonyms for (verb) waste

Synonyms: rot, waste

Definition: become physically weaker

Usage: Political prisoners are wasting away in many prisons all over the world

Similar words: deteriorate, devolve, degenerate, drop

Definition: grow worse

Usage: Her condition deteriorated; Conditions in the slums degenerated; The discussion devolved into a shouting match


Synonyms: desolate, devastate, scourge, lay waste to, ravage, waste

Definition: cause extensive destruction or ruin utterly

Usage: The enemy lay waste to the countryside after the invasion

Similar words: ruin, destroy

Definition: destroy completely; damage irreparably

Usage: You have ruined my car by pouring sugar in the tank!; The tears ruined her make-up


Synonyms: emaciate, waste, macerate

Definition: cause to grow thin or weak

Usage: The treatment emaciated him

Similar words: enfeeble, drain, debilitate

Definition: make weak

Usage: Life in the camp drained him


Synonyms: languish, pine away, waste

Definition: lose vigor, health, or flesh, as through grief

Usage: After her husband died, she just pined away

Similar words: weaken

Definition: become weaker

Usage: The prisoner's resistance weakened after seven days


Synonyms: consume, squander, waste, ware

Definition: spend extravagantly

Usage: waste not, want not

Similar words: spend, expend, drop

Definition: pay out

Usage: spend money


Synonyms: waste

Definition: use inefficiently or inappropriately

Usage: waste heat; waste a joke on an unappreciative audience

Similar words: use, utilise, utilize, employ, apply

Definition: put into service; make work or employ for a particular purpose or for its inherent or natural purpose

Usage: use your head!; we only use Spanish at home; I can't use this tool; Apply a magnetic field here; This thinking was applied to many projects; How do you utilize this tool?; I apply this rule to get good results; use the plastic bags to store the food; He doesn't know how to use a computer


Synonyms: neutralise, neutralize, do in, waste, knock off, liquidate

Definition: get rid of (someone who may be a threat) by killing

Usage: The mafia liquidated the informer; the double agent was neutralized

Similar words: kill

Definition: cause to die; put to death, usually intentionally or knowingly

Usage: This man killed several people when he tried to rob a bank; The farmer killed a pig for the holidays


Synonyms: waste, run off

Definition: run off as waste

Usage: The water wastes back into the ocean

Similar words: flow, feed, course, run

Definition: move along, of liquids

Usage: Water flowed into the cave; the Missouri feeds into the Mississippi


Synonyms: waste

Definition: get rid of

Usage: We waste the dirty water by channeling it into the sewer

Similar words: discard, dispose, toss, toss away, toss out, throw away, throw out, fling, put away, cast aside, cast away, cast out, chuck out

Definition: throw or cast away

Usage: Put away your worries


Synonyms: waste, squander, blow

Definition: spend thoughtlessly; throw away

Usage: He wasted his inheritance on his insincere friends; You squandered the opportunity to get and advanced degree

Similar words: expend, use

Definition: use up, consume fully

Usage: The legislature expended its time on school questions


Synonyms for (adj) waste

Synonyms: waste, wild, godforsaken

Definition: located in a dismal or remote area; desolate

Usage: a desert island; a godforsaken wilderness crossroads; a wild stretch of land; waste places

Similar words: inhospitable

Definition: unfavorable to life or growth

Usage: the barren inhospitable desert; inhospitable mountain areas


Visual thesaurus for waste