verb (used with object), dis·si·pat·ed, dis·si·pat·ing.
- to scatter in various directions; disperse; dispel.
- to spend or use wastefully or extravagantly; squander; deplete: to dissipate one’s talents; to dissipate a fortune on high living.
verb (used without object), dis·si·pat·ed, dis·si·pat·ing.
- to become scattered or dispersed; be dispelled; disintegrate: The sun shone and the mist dissipated.
- to indulge in extravagant, intemperate, or dissolute pleasure.
verb
- to exhaust or be exhausted by dispersion
- (tr) to scatter or break up
- (intr) to indulge in the pursuit of pleasure
early 15c., from Latin dissipatus, past participle of dissipare “to spread abroad, scatter, disperse; squander, disintegrate,” from dis- “apart” (see dis-) + supare “to throw, scatter,” from PIE *swep- “to throw, sling, cast” (cf. Lithuanian supu “to swing, rock,” Old Church Slavonic supo “to strew”). Related: Dissipated; dissipates; dissipating.