Frittered

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. Spent or used in a careless or wasteful way, often referring to time, money, or resources being gradually lost without significant benefit
2. Gradually lost or dissipated through ineffective or trivial actions, such as squandering opportunities or funds on unimportant things
3. Wasted little by little in an unproductive or careless manner, especially when referring to the careless use of time, money, or other valuable assets

Etymology: The verb comes from the noun "fritter," a small piece of fried batter, which descends from Old French "friture," meaning "a frying," and ultimately from Latin "frigere," to fry. The food name and the verb are not the same word's senses in a straight line, but they are linked through the idea of something broken into small bits. The verb first meant to break something into small fragments, as crumbs of food might be. Its sense of wasting something piece by piece came later, and it describes resources dispersing in many little pieces rather than one large loss. Money frittered away on small purchases and time frittered on trifles both fit that image of a whole being reduced to scraps.

Synonyms: wasted, squandered

Antonyms: saved, conserved