dissipative

/ˈdɪsəˌpeɪtɪv/
adjective
  1. Tending to waste or use up energy, resources, or money in a careless way.
    • The dissipative habits of the old regime drained the national treasury.
    • His dissipative lifestyle left him broke and unhealthy.
    • Engineers designed a less dissipative system to reduce energy loss.
  2. Relating to the gradual loss or dispersal of energy, as in physics or engineering.
    • The dissipative nature of the shock absorber helps smooth out bumps.
    • In a dissipative system, energy is not conserved and is lost to the surroundings.
    • Friction is a dissipative force that converts motion into heat.
What does "dissipative" mean? | whatsthatwordmean | whatsthatwordmean