dissipation

Also found in: Thesaurus, Encyclopedia, Wikipedia.

Related to dissipation: Dissipation factor

dis·si·pa·tion

(dĭs′ə-pā′shən)

1. The act of dissipating or the condition of having been dissipated.

2. Wasteful expenditure or consumption.

3. Dissolute indulgence in sensual pleasure; intemperance.

4. An amusement; a diversion.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

dissipation

(ˌdɪsɪˈpeɪʃən)

1. the act of dissipating or condition of being dissipated

2. unrestrained indulgence in physical pleasures, esp alcohol

3. excessive expenditure; wastefulness

4. amusement; diversion

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

dis•si•pa•tion

(ˌdɪs əˈpeɪ ʃən)

n.

1. the act of dissipating.

2. the state of being dissipated; dispersion; disintegration.

3. a wasting by misuse: the dissipation of a fortune.

4. amusement; diversion.

5. dissolute way of living, esp. excessive drinking of liquor; intemperance.

6. a process in which energy is used or lost without accomplishing useful work, as friction causing loss of mechanical energy.

[1535–45; < Latin]

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Switch to new thesaurus

Noun	1.	dissipation - breaking up and scattering by dispersion; "the dissipation of the mist" dispersion, scattering - spreading widely or driving off
	2.	dissipation - dissolute indulgence in sensual pleasure licentiousness, profligacy, dissolution, looseness intemperateness, self-indulgence, intemperance - excess in action and immoderate indulgence of bodily appetites, especially in passion or indulgence; "the intemperance of their language"
	3.	dissipation - useless or profitless activity; using or expending or consuming thoughtlessly or carelessly; "if the effort brings no compensating gain it is a waste"; "mindless dissipation of natural resources" waste, wastefulness boondoggle - work of little or no value done merely to look busy activity - any specific behavior; "they avoided all recreational activity" waste of effort, waste of energy - a useless effort waste of material - a useless consumption of material waste of money - money spent for inadequate return; "the senator said that the project was a waste of money" waste of time - the devotion of time to a useless activity; "the waste of time could prove fatal" high life, highlife, lavishness, prodigality, extravagance - excessive spending squandering - spending resources lavishly and wastefully; "more wasteful than the squandering of time"

dissipation

noun

1. dispersal, scattering, vanishing, disappearance, disintegration, dissolution, dissemination the dissipation of heat

2. waste, spending, squandering, blowing (slang), consumption, throwing away, misuse, frittering away, misspending the dissipation of my wealth

3. debauchery, excess, indulgence, abandonment, drunkenness, profligacy, intemperance, wantonness, dissoluteness Her face was a revelation of age and dissipation.

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

Translations

dissipazione dissolutezza

dissipation

[ˌdɪsɪˈpeɪʃən] N

1. (= act of dispelling) → disipación f; (= waste) → derroche m, desperdicio m

2. (= debauchery) → disipación f, libertinaje m

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

dissipation

[ˌdɪsɪˈpeɪʃ^ən] n

(= dispersal) [heat, smoke] → dissipation f

(= calming) [tension, anger] → apaisement m

(= wasting) [energy] → gaspillage m; [efforts] → dispersion f; [money] → gaspillage m; [wealth] → dilapidation f

(literary) (= debauchery) → débauche f

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

dissipation

(= debauchery) → Ausschweifung f; a life of dissipation → ein ausschweifendes Leben

(= dispersal: of doubts, fears) → Zerstreuung f

(= wasting, of energy, efforts) → Verschwendung f, → Vergeudung f; (of fortune) → Verschwendung f

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

dissipation

[ˌdɪsɪˈpeɪʃ/ən] n (frm) (of fears) → dissolvimento; (of money, fortune, effort) → dissipazione f; (debauchery) → dissolutezza

Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

dissipation

n. disipación, vida disipada; dispersión.

References in classic literature ?

But the period of my dissipation would end and I always felt very sick afterwards.

View in context

The getting of your anchor was a noisy operation on board a merchant ship of yesterday - an inspiring, joyous noise, as if, with the emblem of hope, the ship's company expected to drag up out of the depths, each man all his personal hopes into the reach of a securing hand - the hope of home, the hope of rest, of liberty, of dissipation, of hard pleasure, following the hard endurance of many days between sky and water.

View in context

Her neglect of her husband, her encouragement of other men, her extravagance and dissipation, were so gross and notorious that no one could be ignorant of them at the time, nor can now have forgotten them.

View in context

Grey-headed men, wonderfully pathetic in their dissipation, stared at her through clouds.

View in context

It suits you so badly- all this debauchery, dissipation, and the rest of it!"

View in context

Her face, marked by low passions and dissipation, might once have been lovely.

View in context

Intellectual "work" is misnamed; it is a pleasure, a dissipation, and is its own highest reward.

View in context

It is said that the vast majority of the Heidelberg students are hard workers, and make the most of their opportunities; that they have no surplus means to spend in dissipation, and no time to spare for frolicking.

View in context

Come right out and tell me you've found out somehow what a shape I'm in on account of dissipation and foolishness."

View in context

He was known to us all as being a most cruel wretch,--a common drunk- ard, who had, by his reckless mismanagement and profligate dissipation, already wasted a large por- tion of his father's property.

View in context

I sought out and put into his hands two of Milicent's letters: one dated from London, and written during one of his wildest seasons of reckless dissipation; the other in the country, during a lucid interval.

View in context

At last prospects for promotion in the revenue service began to open to him, but it was too late; his naturally robust constitution had given way to over-work and dissipation, and he died in 1796 at the age of thirty-seven.