waster

UK: /ˈweɪstə^r/ US: (wā′stər)

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025

wast•er  (wā′stər), n. 

1. a person or thing that wastes time, money, etc.
2. Ceramics a piece of ceramic ware warped, cracked, or melted during firing.
3. a spendthrift or wastrel.
4. a destroyer:
   The Vandals were wasters of cities.
5. British Terms [Chiefly Brit.] wastrel (def. 2).

• Anglo-French wastere, wastour (see -or²); later understood as waste + -er¹
• Middle English 1300–50

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

waster / ˈweɪstə/ noun

1. a person or thing that wastes
2. a ne'er-do-well; wastrel