Outspent

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. To have used more money than someone else in a competition or comparison of spending
2. To have exceeded others in total financial outlay during a specific event or timeframe
3. Has expended a greater amount of money compared to another person or group

Etymology: "Outspent" is the past tense and past participle of "outspend," which is formed simply from the prefix "out-" and the verb "spend." The prefix "out-" comes from Old English "ūt," meaning "outside" or "away from within," which gives the sense of going beyond or surpassing a rival. "Spend" has a longer and more layered past. It descends from Latin "expendere," meaning "to weigh out" or "to pay out," built from "ex-" ("out") and "pendere" ("to weigh" or "to hang"). That Latin sense of weighing coins out for payment explains why the verb came to mean handing over money, and it passed into Old English as "spendan" before becoming the familiar English "spend." Put the two halves together and "outspend" describes spending more than someone else. The construction is a plain English compound, so there is no single coinage moment to point to; it simply follows the pattern of many other "out-" verbs, such as "outrun" and "outbid," where the prefix means to exceed a rival in the action named by the base verb.

Synonyms: overspent, exceeded, outlaid, overexpended, outgo

Antonyms: saved, conserved, retained, collected, gained