Dissipation
noun ·Common ·High school level
Definitions
- 1 The act of dissipating or dispersing; a state of dispersion or separation; dispersion; waste. countable, uncountable
"without loss or dissipation of the matter"
- 2 useless or profitless activity; using or expending or consuming thoughtlessly or carelessly wordnet
- 3 A dissolute course of life, in which health, money, etc., are squandered in pursuit of pleasure; profuseness in immoral indulgence, as late hours, riotous living, etc.; dissoluteness. countable, uncountable
"18th century, Patrick Henry in a parliamentary debate to reclaim the spendthrift from his dissipation and extravagance"
- 4 dissolute indulgence in sensual pleasure wordnet
- 5 A trifle which wastes time or distracts attention. countable, uncountable
"Prevented from finishing them [the letters] a thousand avocations and dissipations."
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- 6 breaking up and scattering by dispersion wordnet
- 7 A loss of energy, usually as heat, from a dynamic system. countable, uncountable
"They conclude[…] the planet will have a final period of rotation between 56 and 88 days, depending on the assumed form of the dissipation function."
Example
More examples"The spiritual journey does not consist of arriving at a new destination where a person gains what he did not have, or becomes what he is not. It consists in the dissipation of one's own ignorance concerning one's self and life, and gradual growth of that understanding, which begins a spiritual awakening. The finding of God is coming to one's self."
Etymology
From Middle English dissipacion, dissipacioun, from Late Latin dissipātiō. Morphologically dissipate + -ion.
Related phrases
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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.