Synonyms for scatter

verb

1. To become separated

   run apart, run away, go one's own way, diverge, disperse, disband, migrate, spread, go in different directions, blow off, go in many directions, be blown to the four winds.

   Antonyms assemble*, convene, congregate.

2. To cause to separate

   dispel, derange, dissipate, diffuse, strew, divide, disband, shed, distribute, intersperse, disseminate, separate, disunite, sunder, scatter to the wind, sever, set asunder.

   Antonyms unite*, join, mix.

3. To seed

   disseminate, set, strew.

4. To waste

   spend, expend, dissipate, fritter away, squander, lavish, be prodigal with one's substance, spend prodigally, sow, broadcast, pour out like water, exhaust, throw around*, scatter to the birds*; see also spend 1, waste 2.

scatter implies a strewing around loosely to scatter seeds or a forcible driving apart in different directions the breeze scattered the papers; disperse implies a scattering which completely breaks up an assemblage and spreads the individuals far and wide a people dispersed throughout the world; dissipate implies complete dissolution, as by crumbling, wasting, etc. to dissipate a fortune; dispel suggests a scattering that drives away something that obscures, confuses, troubles, etc. to dispel fears