What does "waste" mean?
Excess of material, useless by-products, or damaged, unsaleable products; garbage; rubbish.
Waste
/weɪst/ adj, noun, verb, slang
adj, noun, verb, slang ·Top 500 ·Elementary level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: Excess of material, useless by-products, or damaged, unsaleable products; garbage; rubbish.
- Grammar: waste is listed as adj, noun, verb, slang.
- Nearest alternatives: abate, ablate, ablation, absorption.
- Useful contrasts: advantaged, appropriate behavior, conserved resource.
- Usage evidence: This day was just a waste of time and money.
How to use "waste"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "waste" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "waste" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "waste" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "waste" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "waste" is acting as adj, noun, verb, slang in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "abate" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "waste", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 Excess of material, useless by-products, or damaged, unsaleable products; garbage; rubbish. countable, uncountable
- 2 useless or profitless activity; using or expending or consuming thoughtlessly or carelessly wordnet
- 3 Excrement or urine. countable, uncountable
"The cage was littered with animal waste."
- 4 (law) reduction in the value of an estate caused by act or neglect wordnet
- 5 A wasteland; an uninhabited desolate region; a wilderness or desert. countable, uncountable
"We went down accordingly into the waste, and began to make our toilsome and devious travel towards the eastern verge."
Show 15 more definitions
- 6 the trait of wasting resources wordnet
- 7 A place that has been laid waste or destroyed. countable, uncountable
- 8 an uninhabited wilderness that is worthless for cultivation wordnet
- 9 A large tract of uncultivated land. countable, uncountable
- 10 any materials unused and rejected as worthless or unwanted wordnet
- 11 The part of the land of a manor (of whatever size) not used for cultivation or grazing, nowadays treated as common land. countable, historical, uncountable
- 12 A vast expanse of water. countable, uncountable
- 13 A disused mine or part of one. countable, uncountable
- 14 The action or progress of wasting; extravagant consumption or ineffectual use. countable, uncountable
"That was a waste of time!"
- 15 Large abundance of something, specifically without it being used. countable, uncountable
- 16 Gradual loss or decay. countable, uncountable
- 17 A decaying of the body by disease; atrophy; wasting away. countable, uncountable
- 18 Destruction or devastation caused by war or natural disasters; see "to lay waste". countable, rare, uncountable
- 19 A cause of action which may be brought by the owner of a future interest in property against the current owner of that property to prevent the current owner from degrading the value or character of the property, either intentionally or through neglect. countable, uncountable
- 20 Material derived by mechanical and chemical erosion from the land, carried by streams to the sea. countable, uncountable
Verb
- 1 To devastate; to destroy. transitive
"Thou barrein ground, whome winters wrath hath wasted, / Art made a myrrour to behold my plight."
- 2 become physically weaker wordnet
- 3 To squander (money or resources) uselessly; to spend (time) idly; to dissipate. transitive
"We wasted millions of dollars and several years on that project."
- 4 cause extensive destruction or ruin utterly wordnet
- 5 To kill; to murder. slang, transitive
Show 12 more definitions
- 6 cause to grow thin or weak wordnet
- 7 To wear away by degrees; to impair gradually; to deteriorate; to diminish by constant loss; to use up; to consume; to spend; to wear out. transitive
"until your carcases be wasted in the wilderness"
- 8 lose vigor, health, or flesh, as through grief wordnet
- 9 To gradually lose weight, weaken, become frail. intransitive
- 10 spend extravagantly wordnet
- 11 To be diminished; to lose bulk, substance, strength, value etc. gradually. intransitive
"[…]The barrell of meale shall not waste, neither shall the cruse of oile faile, vntill the day that the Lord sendeth raine vpon the earth."
- 12 use inefficiently or inappropriately wordnet
- 13 To damage, impair, or injure (an estate, etc.) voluntarily, or by allowing the buildings, fences, etc., to fall into decay.
- 14 get rid of (someone who may be a threat) by killing wordnet
- 15 run off as waste wordnet
- 16 dispose of wordnet
- 17 spend thoughtlessly; throw away wordnet
Adjective
- 1 Useless and contemptible. derogatory, slang
"Niggas moves so waste / Please, come outside the house and show yourself / So I can say it to your face"
- 2 Uncultivated, uninhabited. archaic
"SOo whanne syr Galahad was departed from the castel of maydens / he rode tyl he came to a waste forest / & there he mette with syre launcelot and syr Percyuale but they knewe hym not / for he was newe desguysed / Ryghte so syr launcelot his fader dressid his spere and brake it vpon syr Galahad"
- 3 Barren; desert; empty.
"‘The stars,’ she whispers, ‘blindly run; A web is wov’n across the sky; From out waste places comes a cry, And murmurs from the dying sun: […]"
- 4 Rejected as being defective; eliminated as being worthless; produced in excess.
"Oxygen levels on Earth skyrocketed 2.4 billion years ago, when cyanobacteria evolved photosynthesis: the ability to convert water and carbon dioxide into carbohydrates and waste oxygen using solar energy."
- 5 Superfluous; needless.
Show 2 more definitions
- 6 Dismal; gloomy; cheerless.
"the savage Baron's heart[…] became appalled as he gazed forward into the waste darkness of futurity."
- 7 Unfortunate; disappointing.
Adjective
- 1 located in a dismal or remote area; desolate wordnet
Antonyms
Example
"This day was just a waste of time and money."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "waste"?
Common synonyms include: abate, ablate, ablation, absorption, acarpous, afterglow.
How do you use "waste" in a sentence?
This day was just a waste of time and money.
How do you pronounce "waste"?
Pronounced /weɪst/.
Etymology
Etymology 1
From Middle English wast, waste (“a waste”, noun), from Anglo-Norman, Old Northern French wast, waste (“a waste”), from Frankish *wōstī (“a waste”), from Proto-Germanic *wōstaz, *wōstuz, from Proto-Indo-European *h₁weh₂- (“empty, wasted”).
Etymology 2
From Middle English wast, waste (“waste”, adjective), from Anglo-Norman, Old Northern French wast (“waste”), from Frankish *wōstī (“waste, empty”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁weh₂- (“empty, wasted”). Cognate with Old High German wuosti, wuasti (“waste, empty”), German wüst, Old Saxon wōsti (“desolate”), Old English wēste (“waste, barren, desolate, empty”).
Etymology 3
From Middle English wasten (“to waste, lay waste”), from Anglo-Norman, Old Northern French waster (“to waste, devastate”) (compare also the variant gaster and French gâter from a related Old French word); the Anglo-Norman form waster was either from Frankish *wōstijan (“to waste”), from Proto-Indo-European *wāsto- (“empty, wasted”), or alternatively from Latin vastāre and influenced by the Frankish; the English word was assisted by similarity to native Middle English westen ("to waste"; > English weest). Cognate with Old High German wuostan, wuastan, wuostjan (“to waste”) (Modern German wüsten), Old English wēstan (“to lay waste, ravage”). Displaced native Old English essian and strȳndan. Largely overtook Old English forspillan and wēstan.