Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
Definition: Squander |
SquanderVerb1. Spend thoughtlessly; throw away; "He wasted his inheritance on his insincere friends". 2. Spend lavishly or wastefully on; "He blew a lot of money on his new home theater". 3. Spend extravagantly; "waste not, want not". Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved. |
Date "squander" was first used in popular English literature: sometime before 1258. (references) |
Note: Squander \Squan"der\, transitive verb. [imperfect & past participle. Squandered; Squandering.]. (Websters 1913) |
Synonyms: SquanderSynonyms: blow (v), consume (v), ware (v), waste (v). (additional references) |
| Antonyms: conserve (v), save (v). (additional references) |
| Context | Synonyms within Context (source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus). |
Misuse | Desecrate, abuse, profane, prostitute: waste; overtask, overtax, overwork: squander. |
Prodigality | Verb: be prodigal; Adjective: squander, lavish, sow broadcast; pour forth like water; blow, blow in; pay through the nose; (dear); spill, waste, dissipate, exhaust, drain, eat out of house and home, overdraw, outrun the constable; run out, run through; misspend; throw good money after bad, throw the helve after the hatchet; burn the candle at both ends; make ducks and drakes of one's money; fool away one's money, potter away one's money, muddle away one's money, fritter away one's money, throw away one's money, run through one's money; pour water into a sieve, kill the goose that lays the golden eggs; manger son ble en herbe. |
Waste | Cast away, fool away, muddle away, throw away, fling away, fritter away; burn the candle at both ends, waste; squander. |
| Source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus. | |
Crosswords: Squander |
| English words defined with "squander": Despend ♦ Prodigate ♦ To play at ducks and drakes ♦ wasteful. (references) |
| Specialty definitions using "squander": INSURANCE ♦ saw. (references) |
| Etymologies containing "squander": Despend. (references) |
| Domain | Title |
Books | |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| Author | Quotation |
Benjamin Franklin | Do not squander time for that is the stuff life is made of. |
| Dost thou love life? Then do not squander time, for that is the stuff life is made of. | |
Walter Savage Landor | The writing of the wise are the only riches our posterity cannot squander. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | |
| Subject | Topic | Quote |
Lexicography | Devil's Dictionary | SAW, n. A trite popular saying, or proverb. (Figurative and colloquial.) So called because it makes its way into a wooden head. Following are examples of old saws fitted with new teeth. A penny saved is a penny to squander. A man is known by the company that he organizes. A bad workman quarrels with the man who calls him that. A bird in the hand is worth what it will bring. Better late than before anybody has invited you. Example is better than following it. Half a loaf is better than a whole one if there is much else. Think twice before you speak to a friend in need. What is worth doing is worth the trouble of asking somebody to do it. Least said is soonest disavowed. He laughs best who laughs least. Speak of the Devil and he will hear about it. Of two evils choose to be the least. Strike while your employer has a big contract. Where there's a will there's a won't. |
Source: compiled by the editor from ICON Group International, Inc.; see credits. | ||
| Speaker | Term | Phrase(s) |
Ronald Reagan | 1981-1989 | We cannot win that race held back by horse-and-buggy programs that waste tax dollars and squander human potential. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
| "Squander" is generally used as a lexical verb (infinitive) -- approximately 84.78% of the time. "Squander" is used about 46 times out of a sample of 100 million words spoken or written in English. Its rank is based on over 700,000 words used in the English language. Some parts-of-speech are not covered due to the samples used by the British National Corpus. (note: percents less than one-hundredth of one percent have been omitted) |
| Parts of Speech | Percent | Usage per 100 Million Words | Rank in English |
| Lexical Verb (infinitive) | 84.78% | 39 | 55,036 |
| Lexical Verb (base form) | 13.04% | 6 | 143,867 |
| Noun (singular) | 2.17% | 1 | 339,140 |
| Total | 100.00% | 46 | N/A |
Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits.
Expressions using "squander": overwork: squander ♦ squander away ♦ squander on a gay life. Additional references. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. |
| The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com. |
| Expression | Frequency per Day |
squander | 14 |
dollar squander thousand | 7 |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| Language | Translations for "squander"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Albanian | shpenzoj pa hesap, shkapërderdh, harxhoj (consume, dissipate, eat, expend, expense, finish, fritter, invest, melt, outlay, scatter, skittle away, spend, trifle away, use up), harxhim (consumption, expenditure, expense, intake, squandering, wastage). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Arabic | فقد (collapse, forfeit, lose, perish, wastage), تشتت (disband, disperse, dispersion, scuttle, stampede), تبعثر (scatter, waste), أسرف في الإنفاق, شتت (disperse, dissipate), بزر (put out), بذر (blow, disseminate, dissipate, drill, fritter, inseminate, run through, sow, sowing, spend, waste), بدد (burn, dally, dawdle, devour, disperse, dissipate, fool, fritter, melt, resolve, scatter, slattern, spend, spoil, throwaway, waste). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Bulgarian | разпилявам (blow about, cast away, consume, disperse, fool away, potter away, throw about), прахосвам (dilapidate, dissipate, lavish, revel away, skittle, throw around, trifle away, waste). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Chinese | 蕩 (a pond, dissolute, move, pool, shake, sweep away, wash), 侈" (squandered, squandering). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Czech | utrácet, rozházet (scatter, strew), promrhat (waste), promarnit (dawdle away, dissipate, fritter away, throw away, throw up, trifle away, waste). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Farsi | ولخرجی (Lavish, Prodigality, Profligacy), تلف کردن (Lose, Misspend), اسراف (Improvidence, Prodigality, Profusion), برباددادن (Misspend). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Finnish | tuhlata (waste), haaskata (waste). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
French | se dissiper, se disperser, perdre, gaspiller, dissiper, disperser, dilapider. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
German | verschwenden (dissipate, lavish, misapply, throw away, to dissipate, to lavish, to squander, to waste, waste), verschleudern (dump, scatter, to squander). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Greek | σπαταλώ (consume, dissipate, fritter, throw about, waste). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Hebrew | לבזבז (dissipate, muddle, spend, spoil, waste). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Hungarian | elpazarol (to fritter away, to frivol away, to squander, to trifle away, to waste, trifle), elherdál (cast away, dissipate, to blue, to cast away, to dissipate, to fritter away, to frivol away, to piss away, to squander). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Indonesian | memboroskan (be liberal with, fritter). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Italian | sprecare (loiter, misspend, put oneself out, waste, waste one's energy, wasting), sperperare (lavish, waste), scialacquare (splash), dissipare (consume, dispel, disperse, dissipate, drive away, misspend, waste), dilapidare (dilapidate, waste). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Japanese Kanji | 盪尽 . (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Japanese Katakana | とうじ" (a Chinese, a party man, dissipation, foreigner, islanders, minute investigation, squandering, sword blade, thorough inquiry). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Manx | jummal (dissipate, dissipation, fritter, squanderer, waste, wastefulness). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Pig Latin | andersquay malbaratar (misspend, riot, skittle away, vandalize), gastar tolamente, esbanjar (burn, consume, fritter, guzzle, lavish, misspend, riot, vandalize, waste), dissipar (consume, die away, dispel, disperse, dissipate, evanesce, fritter, fritter away, melt, overblow, run to waste), desperdiçar (fiddle, fritter, lose, racket, skittle away, throw away, trifle, waste). (various references) toca (bother, chat, chop, hack, hash, hew, melt, mince), risipi (broadcast, cast away, chase, chuck away, clear, consume, crumble, disappear, dispel, disperse, dissipate, quiet, remove, repel, riot, scatter, settle, solve, spend, sprinkle, strew, throw away, vanish, waste), risipã (dissipation, extravagance, gash, improvidence, prodigality, squandering, waste), mãtrãşi, irosi (cast away, consume, dissipate, fiddle, idle, muddle away, spend, waste), face praf (cook, cut, knock out, reduce to powder), cheltui (blue, consume, employ, expend, outlay, scatter, spend, transact money, waste). (various references) растрачивать (embezzle, fiddle away, misspend, sport away, squanders, trifle away), растрата (defalcation, embezzlement, fraudulent conversion, misappropriation, peculation), разбазаривать (waste), промотать. (various references) straćiti (fling away, fritter away, overspend, putter), traćiti (misspend, piddle, potter, putter, waste), rasuti (disperse, spill, strew), proćerdati (dissipate, run through, waste). (various references) malgastar (dawdle, fritter, idle away, misspend, throw away, trifle away, waste). (various references) slösa (launch out, lavish, waste). (various references) ใช้จ่ายสุรุ่ยสุร่าย, การใช้จ่ายสุรุ่ยสุร่าย. (various references) saçıp savurmak (fling away, prodigalize, scatter, spend prodigally, squander away), tutumsuz (improvident, prodigal, thriftless, unthrifty, wasteful), müsriflik (lavishness, thriftlessness, wastefulness), müsrif (consumptive, extravagant, improvident, inefficient, lavish, prodigal, profligate, profuse, spender, spendthrift, squanderer, thriftless, unthrifty, wasteful), israf etmek (chuck away, fritter, fritter away, prodigalize, squander away, throw to the dogs, waste), israf (dissipation, extravagance, improvidence, prodigality, profusion, squandering, wastage, waste, wastefulness), heba etmek (lose, waste), har vurup harman savurmak (blue, launch out, make the money fly, slather, waste away), boşa harcamak (cast away, chuck away, dissipate, fling away, footle, fritter, fritter away, frivol away, idle, idle away, lavish, misapply, misspend, pass away, pour down the drain, scatter, squander away, throw away, throw to the dogs, trifle away, waste), boşa harcama (extravagance, wastage, waste), çarçur etmek (blow, blue, cast away, dissipate, pour down the drain, trifle away, waste). (various references) розсіювати (dissipate, flecker, scatter), розтрачувати (drone, eat into, embezzle, misappropriate), марнотратство (extravagance, waste). (various references) ofera (idle, waste), gwastraffu (waste), afradu (lavish, waste). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Language | Period | Translations |
| Latin | 500 BCE-Modern | adesa, comedi, comedo, comedo comedi comesum, comedo, comedi, comesum, consumam, consumant, consumantur, consumas, consumat, consumatur, consume, consumendus, consumens, consumentur, consumere, consumerem, consumerentur, consumeretur, consumeris, consumet, consumetur, consumi, consumit, consumitur, consumpserat, consumpseris, consumpserunt, consumpsi, consumpsimus, consumpsit, consumpta, consumptae, consumptaque, consumptas, consumpti, consumptis, consumptisque, consumptum, consumptura, consumptus, consumptusque, dissipa, dissipabant, dissipabis, dissipabit, dissipabitur, dissipabo, dissipabunt, dissipabuntur, dissipans, dissipant, dissipantes, dissipantur, dissipare, dissiparem, dissipasset, dissipasti, dissipat, dissipata, dissipatae, dissipatam, dissipatarum, dissipatas, dissipate, dissipati, dissipatum, dissipatus, dissipaverint, dissipaverunt, dissipavi, dissipavit, dissipemus, dissipentur, dissipes, dissipet, ebibent, perdo, profunde, profundi, profundis, profundo. (various references) |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
Derivations | |
Words beginning with "squander": squandered, squanderer, squanderers, squandering, squanders. (additional references) | |
| |
"Squander" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: quander, sequender, sqander, squade, squader, squand, squandar, squider. (additional references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references). | |
| # of Phoneme Matches | Pronunciation | Word(s) rhyming with "squander" (pronounced skwÄ"nder) |
| 5 | -w Ä" n d er | wander. |
| 4 | -Ä" n d er | blonder, Condor, fonder, ponder, responder, transponder, yonder. |
| 3 | -n d er | Alexander, asunder, attainder, auslander, Bander, bartender, bender, binder, blander, blender, blinder, blunder, bookbinder, bounder, brander, bystander, calamander, calendar, candor, cinder, cofounder, commander, contender, coriander, cylinder, defender, Ender, engender, extender, Fender, finder, flounder, founder, gander, gender, gerrymander, grander, grinder, highlander, hinder, islander, kinder, Lander, launder, lavender, lender, mainlander, meander, minder, offender, oleander, pander, pathfinder, Pinder, plunder, pounder, pretender, rejoinder, remainder, reminder, render, rounder, salamander, sander, sender, Sidewinder, slander, slender, sounder, Spender, splendor, Stander, sunder, surrender, suspender, tender, thunder, tinder, under, vendor, viewfinder, weekender, winder, wonder, Zander. |
Source: compiled by the editor (additional references); see credits. | ||
Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams | |
| Words within the letters "a-d-e-n-q-r-s-u" | |
-1 letter: asunder, danseur, squared. | |
-2 letters: denars, nursed, queans, querns, redans, sander, snared, square, sundae, sunder, unread. | |
-3 letters: aures, dares, darns, deans, dears, denar, druse, dunes, duras, dures, durns, earns, nards, nares, nears, nerds, nuder, nudes, nurds, nurse, quads, quare, quean, quern, rands, rased, reads, redan, rends, runes, saned, saner, sedan, snare, squad, under, urase. | |
| Words containing the letters "a-d-e-n-q-r-s-u" | |
+1 letter: squanders. | |
+2 letters: quadrantes, quandaries, squadroned, squandered, squanderer. | |
+3 letters: quadrangles, squanderers, squandering. | |
+4 letters: hindquarters, masquerading, quadrennials, quadrenniums. | |
+5 letters: harlequinades, quadrivalents. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro. | |
| 1. Definition 2. Synonyms 3. Crosswords 4. Usage: Commercial | 5. Quotations: Familiar 6. Quotations: Non-fiction 7. Quotations: Speeches 8. Usage Frequency | 9. Expressions 10. Expressions: Internet 11. Translations: Modern 12. Translations: Ancient | 13. Derivations 14. Rhymes 15. Anagrams 16. Bibliography |
Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
