Squanders

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. To recklessly waste valuable resources, chances, or opportunities without considering their importance To unthinkingly expend time, money, or energy in an unproductive manner To carelessly squander assets or prospects that could have been utilized more effectively
2. Uses up resources or chances in a careless or extravagant way that leads to loss or depletion
3. Disposes of valuable materials, opportunities, or time frivolously without gaining any useful result

Etymology: "Squanders" is the third-person singular present form of "squander," so the story belongs to the verb itself. The earliest recorded senses, from the late 16th century, were "to spend recklessly or prodigiously" and "to scatter over a wide area," the second of which points to the word's physical origin in scattering things about. The verb's exact ancestry is unknown, but one proposal is that it blends "scatter" with "wander," which would fit that sense of spreading something loosely across ground. Its closest relatives are in the Scandinavian languages. Danish "skvætte" or "skvatte" means "to splash," Swedish "skvätta" means "to splash," Icelandic "skvetta" means "to squirt," and Norwegian Bokmål "skvette" carries a similar sense. The resemblance in sound and meaning suggests a shared root of splashing or spurting liquid, though whether English "squander" descends from that same root is not established.

Synonyms: wastes, dissipates, spends, exhausts, throws away

Antonyms: saves, conserves, invests, accumulates