Home › Words › M › misspendmisspendmisspend means to spend poorly, incorrectly or unwisely.EtymologyFrom Middle English misspenden, equivalent to mis- + spend.verbTo spend poorly, incorrectly or unwisely.e.g.“I misspent my youth making friends and meeting people. Wait a minute: that's the secret of my success!”Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).Words closest in meaningBy meaning, not spelling — each word's AI semantic fingerprint, nearest first.misspense 79% match — Improper spending; waste. vs misspend →misspender 77% match — Someone who misspends. vs misspend →despend 71% match — To spend; to squander. vs misspend →squander 70% match — To waste, lavish, splurge; to spend lavishly or profusely; to dissipate. vs misspend →mispurpose 68% match — An incorrect or inappropriate purpose. vs misspend →underspend 66% match — To spend too little of the funds appropriated or allocated. vs misspend →misimprove 66% match — To use for a bad purpose; to misuse or squander. vs misspend →misdispense 65% match — To dispense incorrectly or amiss. vs misspend →