dissipate means dissipated.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, dissipate ranks #1,956 of 14,308 for Most Malleable Words, #3,606 of 14,445 for Most Beautiful Words, #7,082 of 14,423 for Most Sublime Words, #7,102 of 14,448 for Funniest Words.
dissipate is pronounced /ˈdɪsɪpeɪt/.
Why “dissipate” is a great word
To cause something to scatter, disperse, and gradually disappear, or to waste something such as money or energy. From Latin dissipāre (“to scatter, disperse, squander”), from dis- (“apart”) + supāre (“to throw”), first attested in English c. 1425. Unlike “disperse” (often a neutral scattering) or “squander” (a foolish, focused loss), to dissipate carries the hush of entropy—the slow seep of heat from a cooling stone, the inheritance draining through a gambler’s fingers, or the precise moment a sharp anger softens into a dull regret. It is the gentle, inexorable physics of things coming undone.
Etymology
The verb is first attested in 1425, in Middle English, the adjective from 1606 to 1765; from Middle English dissipaten, from Latin dissipātus, perfect passive participle of dissipō (see -ate (verb-forming suffix) and -ate (adjective-forming suffix)), also written dissupō (“to scatter, disperse, demolish, destroy, squander, dissipate”), from dis- (“apart”) + supō (“to throw”). Doublet of dissipe (“to dissipate”), now obsolete.
verb
- To drive away, disperse.“August 1773, James Cook, journal entry
I soon dissipated his fears.”
- To use up or waste; squander.“The vast wealth […] was in three years dissipated.”
- To vanish by dispersion.
- To cause energy to be lost through its conversion to heat.“The traction motors serve as generators when dynamic braking is used, the generated output being dissipated in fan-cooled resistance banks mounted in a removable roof section.”
- To be dissolute in conduct.
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