1
as in to undermine
to deprive of emotional or intellectual vitality
a lifetime of working in dreary jobs had enervated his very soul
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in to weaken
to diminish the physical strength of
the surgery really enervated me for weeks afterwards
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in feeble
Related Words
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of enervate
Leslie Felperin,
HollywoodReporter,
24 May 2026
Campbell, the North Carolina folk singer, describes an enervating process marked by back-and-forth exchanges and lots of waiting.
—
Jon Blistein,
Rolling Stone,
25 Mar. 2026
Jenny deflected me with enervating ease.
—
Literary Hub,
13 Mar. 2026
The results are often enervating though sometimes clumsy.
—
Eli Enis,
Pitchfork,
3 Feb. 2026
This may reframe his friend’s enervating habit.
—
Hope Hunt,
Baltimore Sun,
30 Jan. 2026
Some of these values—such as a disciplined commitment to physical fitness—are good and, in my opinion, necessary correctives to the enervating distractions of 21st-century living.
—
Dan Brooks,
The Atlantic,
2 Oct. 2025
Bears do not truly hibernate, but instead enervate, or enter a state of torpor, in their dens.
—
Natalie Krebs,
Outdoor Life,
25 Sep. 2025
Looming over all of it has been the sad, enervating situation with Alexander Isak, forever enshrined as a club legend by dint of Wembley last season but now beyond the point of tarnishing that legacy.
—
George Caulkin,
New York Times,
10 Aug. 2025
Verb
The impact of that shocking final scene is sufficient to send viewers out feeling enervated after what’s been a pretty desultory final act.
—
Leslie Felperin,
HollywoodReporter,
24 May 2026
Campbell, the North Carolina folk singer, describes an enervating process marked by back-and-forth exchanges and lots of waiting.
—
Jon Blistein,
Rolling Stone,
25 Mar. 2026
Jenny deflected me with enervating ease.
—
Literary Hub,
13 Mar. 2026
The results are often enervating though sometimes clumsy.
—
Eli Enis,
Pitchfork,
3 Feb. 2026
This may reframe his friend’s enervating habit.
—
Hope Hunt,
Baltimore Sun,
30 Jan. 2026
Some of these values—such as a disciplined commitment to physical fitness—are good and, in my opinion, necessary correctives to the enervating distractions of 21st-century living.
—
Dan Brooks,
The Atlantic,
2 Oct. 2025
Bears do not truly hibernate, but instead enervate, or enter a state of torpor, in their dens.
—
Natalie Krebs,
Outdoor Life,
25 Sep. 2025
Looming over all of it has been the sad, enervating situation with Alexander Isak, forever enshrined as a club legend by dint of Wembley last season but now beyond the point of tarnishing that legacy.
—
George Caulkin,
New York Times,
10 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for enervate
Verb
-
Kirk had disappeared from their feeds, and Erika Kirk had gone viral for the wrong reasons—taking the stage at her husband’s memorial service amid pyrotechnics and attempting her own campus tour, undermining her image as a Christian trad wife whose priorities were her family and her home.
-
Over his 18-year tenure at the Fed, Greenspan embodied the omnipotent technocrat — a legacy critics say was fatally undermined by his failure to spot the 2008 housing bubble.
Verb
-
Vcg | Visual China Group | Getty Images BEIJING — China’s consumer spending slowdown persisted in June, with growth during one of the country’s largest online shopping festivals weakening sharply from a year earlier.
-
All three of those protagonists have been weakened in their roles by what has gone on.
Adjective
-
Jolted by a feeble office market, a growing number of developers are considering ways to convert their office properties to other uses, such as housing projects.
-
Enervated cuteness and tryhard sincerity define a whole new wave of musicians, from Pittsburgh rockers feeble little horse to cringe-pop upcycler Worldpeace DMT to SoundCloud producer MASSI, whose songs spill with the tiny adorable detail of a toy train set.
Verb
-
Her blood loss was reportedly so severe that the hospital exhausted its supply of her blood type during treatment.
-
Jones countered with more than $25 million from his own family fortune, fueling a contest that left both candidates bruised and voters exhausted.
Verb
-
Speaking of glow, Medicube is also marking down their milky toner, which helps boost radiance, soften skin, and increase hydration.
-
Grandchildren tend to soften even the most complicated family disputes.
Adjective
-
By 1877, the hope for Black equality met an enfeebled federal government that essentially permitted Jim Crow to run amok.
-
But given the island’s small size and enfeebled state, the risks seem much smaller than in Iran.
Verb
-
The hotel’s wellness center offers Ayurvedic herbal scrubs, Reiki, hydrotherapy, lymphatic draining massages, colonics and acupuncture.
-
Transfer the bacon to a plate lined with paper towels to drain.
Adjective
-
Four, graciously sized outdoor pools—all carved in local stone and lined with plush loungers—invite long, languid afternoons.
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The consumer economy, though, is flagging; pork prices have plunged amid a glut and languid spending, in a microcosm of muted demand in the country.
Cite this Entry
“Enervate.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/enervate. Accessed 26 Jun. 2026.
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