wasting 1 of 2

present participle of waste
1
2
as in destroying
to bring to a complete end the physical soundness, existence, or usefulness of one country attempting to waste another

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

3

wasting

2 of 2

adjective

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of wasting
Verb
Owning my gear has significantly streamlined my travel experience — no more wasting time in long rental lines, dealing with mystery-smelling boots that have seen better days, or forking out cash for rentals every season. Erica Paige, Travel + Leisure, 8 Jan. 2025 No more wasting time. Dallas News, 4 Oct. 2022 One that’s too large may be overkill, using up too much electricity and unnecessarily wasting floor space. Brett Dvoretz, chicagotribune.com, 1 Apr. 2021 The highly contagious disease was so wasting and terrifying that those who died of it were believed to leave their graves, infecting relatives and draining away blood and life, scholars have said. Author: Michael E. Ruane, Anchorage Daily News, 1 Aug. 2019
Adjective
To avoid wasting time and money, leaders need a simple rule. Rishit Lakhani, Forbes.com, 11 Sep. 2025 But slow oxygen chemistry has remained a stubborn bottleneck, wasting energy and shortening battery life. Neetika Walter, Interesting Engineering, 10 Sep. 2025 Hyleory Sectional Sofa Another big mistake that Brophy says people make is wasting money on furniture that looks cool or vintage, but ends up being uncomfortable and not lasting a long time. Rylee Johnston, PEOPLE, 10 Sep. 2025 Undernutrition can present as wasting, or stunting, the report added. Amy Woodyatt, CNN Money, 10 Sep. 2025 Boards and managers should be very familiar with those requirements to avoid wasting time. Kelly G. Richardson, San Diego Union-Tribune, 9 Sep. 2025 Are your showers wasting water? Harriette Cole, Mercury News, 8 Sep. 2025 And the work continues off planet as well; astronauts living on the ISS exercise hard every day to stave off the bone loss and muscle wasting that long stays in microgravity induce. Mike Wall, Space.com, 3 Sep. 2025 New rules To reduce time-wasting, goalkeepers will concede a corner for holding on to the ball for more than eight seconds. Cerys Jones, New York Times, 2 Sep. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for wasting
Verb
  • After spending the first nine years of his career with the Washington Capitals, Johansson was traded to the New Jersey Devils in the summer of 2017, just before the Caps broke through with their Cup win.
    Carol Schram, Forbes.com, 14 Sep. 2025
  • Simon-Kucher also has a new holiday shopping report, which surveyed consumers in July, and is forecasting Gen Z shoppers to reduce their holiday shopping budget by only 1%, from $814 to $805, while Millennials will be spending 14% more year over year.
    Betty Lin-Fisher, USA Today, 13 Sep. 2025
Verb
  • The military has also been targeting and destroying high-rise buildings surrounding displacement camps, crowding Gaza City’s residents into ever-smaller spaces.
    Zeena Saifi, CNN Money, 12 Sep. 2025
  • Ultimately, North was found guilty of destroying official documents, accepting a home security system as a gift and obstructing Congress in 1989.
    Meredith Kile, PEOPLE, 11 Sep. 2025
Verb
  • Then the hurricane continued on a more northward path around the islands and finally began weakening after powerful 145 mph winds tapered off.
    Dinah Voyles Pulver, USA Today, 11 Sep. 2025
  • Total job growth was revised lower by the largest amount in history, The revisions erased 911 thousand jobs over the full year period, adding to mounting concerns of a weakening labor market and fueling questions as to the reliability of monthly data being used to gauge employment.
    JJ Kinahan, Forbes.com, 10 Sep. 2025
Adjective
  • Overall, this wasn’t a terrible episode, but having our heroes start in the UK and then end up in Spain in the first episode felt rushed and wasteful.
    Erik Kain, Forbes.com, 7 Sep. 2025
  • Is the packaging consciously designed or needlessly wasteful?
    Lily Wohlner, Allure, 5 Sep. 2025
Verb
  • Despite spending the whole three-hour awards show telling people that their overlong speeches were losing the Boys & Girls Club of America money, the bit was a ruse.
    Fran Hoepfner, Vulture, 15 Sep. 2025
  • Resilience, in the simplest terms, is the ability to recover from challenges, adapt to change and keep moving forward without losing your core sense of purpose.
    Raquel Gomes, Forbes.com, 15 Sep. 2025
Verb
  • Car designers love them for not ruining the lines of the door with the necessities of real life, but is the benefit from drag reduction worth the safety risk?
    Jonathan M. Gitlin, ArsTechnica, 10 Sep. 2025
  • And broadcasting your irritation too loudly risks ruining the atmosphere for everyone else just as much as their yelling or off-key chants.
    Mary Catherine McAnnally Scott, Southern Living, 6 Sep. 2025
Verb
  • The economic environment remains foggy, with uncertainty around tariffs and a labor market that, while softening in some areas, remains remarkably resilient in others.
    Hugh Cameron, MSNBC Newsweek, 12 Sep. 2025
  • This stands in sharp contrast to struggling sectors like multifamily, which are contending with softening rents and oversupply in formerly high-growth markets.
    Andrew DeNardo, Forbes.com, 11 Sep. 2025
Verb
  • An image taken on August 19 shows Israeli excavators and bulldozers demolishing buildings in Zeitoun.
    Zeena Saifi, CNN Money, 12 Sep. 2025
  • About 90% of the former Spring Hill Mall is gone and work demolishing the final anchor store set to begin in the next couple of weeks, officials said.
    Gloria Casas, Chicago Tribune, 6 Sep. 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Wasting.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/wasting. Accessed 17 Sep. 2025.

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