waste
- adjective
- /weɪst/
- They trekked through the waste, finding nothing but barren land and silence.
Examples
-
Despite its beauty, the remote area was a waste, devoid of any inhabitants.
-
The once vibrant landscape was now a waste, abandoned and desolate.
-
The man was long, wasted, and shaggy.
Fiction book (1998) -
Swiftly, no wasted motion, it grabbed the scruff of Sebastian's neck, yanked him up off the pillow, and dropped him on the floor next to the bed.
Fiction book (1994) -
I’d seen my mother-in-law, wasted and lifeless as a burned forest, clinging to her intolerable life.
Academic text (1993) -
Two Russian prisoners in proper military uniforms and with well-fed faces were chasing two other people out of the camp, also Russian prisoners, but so frail, wasted, and apathetic that they seemed already to have died, dragging themselves forward with a strength that was not theirs.
Fiction book (1998) -
A wasted, emaciated Edie Sedgewick type floats into Jim's fractured POV—introducing a man with a crew cut and silk suit.
Fiction book (1991)
Synonyms
Living in a natural state and not tamed by people
A remote, empty place with no people or activity
Antonyms
Idioms
Compounds
- Specialized
Radioactive material from medical tests and hospital procedures that has low radiation and needs safe handling
- Specialized
Highly radioactive material left after nuclear fuel is used that needs safe storage for a long time
A thing like time or money that is completely useless and gives no benefit
- Specialized
Poisonous waste from factories that can harm people and nature
- Offensive
A rude phrase for something completely pointless and not worth your time
- Specialized
A place where people dump poisonous materials that must be cleaned because they can harm people or nature
- Specialized
A machine that presses waste like cardboard or plastic into tight bundles for easier handling
- Specialized
A large shallow pond that treats sewage using sunlight and bacteria and algae
How Desolate
- Archaic
Surface Forms
Etymology
Waste as an adjective comes from an old English word wāst meaning 'barren' or 'desert', so a 'waste' place is empty and without life.