misspend

English

Etymology

From Middle English misspenden, equivalent to mis- +‎ spend.

Verb

misspend (third-person singular simple present misspends, present participle misspending, simple past and past participle misspent)

1. To spend poorly, incorrectly or unwisely.

   I misspent my youth making friends and meeting people. Wait a minute: that's the secret of my success!

   • 1749, Henry Fielding, The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling:

     Matters of a much more extraordinary kind are to be the subject of this history, or I should grossly mis-spend my time in writing so voluminous a work […]

Derived terms

• misspending