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Glite Dictionary
to piss away

to piss away

8 9.5
To waste time or money by being careless
  • phrasal verb
  • /pɪs əˈweɪ/
  • Offensive
translation icon : malgastar
  • I pissed away all my money, believe it or not.
  • pissing away money
  • piss away this opportunity
  • pissed away time

And so my advice to you is do not piss away this rare, unique discretionary time.

Examples

  • Looks like they just pissed away a million dollars.

    The Campaign (2012)

  • I wish we would stop pissing away so much money on tacair, period.

    Blog text (34)

  • I can think of enough things to do to piss away what remains.

    T2 Trainspotting (2017)

  • You just pissed away the money!

    Doctor Detroit (1983)

  • You have pissed away your talent on women and booze and total excess.

    The Beach Bum (2019)

  • And so my advice to you is do not piss away this rare, unique discretionary time.

    Lex Fridman

  • The way you piss away money is phenomenal.

    Songwriter (1984)

  • Instead, we just pissed away irreplaceable energy.

    Blog text (11)

  • You're going to piss away a huge lead in a blink.

    Hurricane Season (2010)

  • They really pissed away their savings on unnecessary expenses.

Synonyms

to squander
vsto piss away
67 6.5

To use money, time, or chances in a foolish way

is more general, stressing careless waste rather than strong recklessness
to fritter away
vsto piss away
4 6.0

Waste time or money on small unimportant things

refers to careless waste generally rather than slow piecemeal losses
to throw money away
vsto piss away
4 3.5

Spend money on things you do not need

is broader, including careless loss of time and opportunities too
to piss about
vsto piss away
  • Offensive
1 9.9

To waste time by behaving in a silly or unproductive way instead of working

is broader, used for careless waste of money and other resources too
to misspend
vsto piss away
1 6.5

To spend time or money in a wasteful way

is broader and applies to wasting any kind of resource rather than only spending
to piss around
vsto piss away
  • Offensive
1 9.9

To waste time doing unimportant or silly things instead of doing something important

is more general, applying to money and other resources as well as time
to fool away
vsto piss away
8.1

To waste time, money, or chances by being careless

focuses on careless or unplanned waste rather than a person's foolishness
to trifle away
vsto piss away
8.2

To waste time, money, or chances on things that do not matter

is used for general careless waste, not only trivial or small losses
to pissing money up the wall
vsto piss away
  • Offensive
9.9

To spend money carelessly and waste it

is broader and applies to wasting time and other nonmonetary resources
to pour down the drain
vsto piss away
  • Informal
6.0

Lose money, time, or effort by wasting it so it cannot be used

often describes careless waste without stressing permanent loss

Antonyms

to save
644 1.0

Use less of something to avoid waste

How Wasteful

to squander
67 6.5
to piss away
  • Offensive
8 9.5
waste
469 1.2

Surface Forms

piss away infinitive
pissed away past
pissed away past participle
pissing away present participle
pisses away third person singular

Morphology

piss + away

The literal verb 'piss' (to urinate) plus 'away' (off/dissipate) can be understood as getting rid of or dissipating something, so a learner who knows the constituents might plausibly infer a meaning like 'waste'. However, the sense is a slangy, metaphorical extension from bodily discharge to wasting money/time and is register-marked (vulgar), so the connection is only partially predictable and comprehension is not guaranteed for an average B1 learner.

Etymology

Piss away comes from a simple, literal image: to piss is to let liquid go and away shows it going out, so piss away is like watching something flow out and disappear. That's why it means 'to waste' time, money, or chances.