washed-up

adjective

ˈwȯsht-ˈəp How to pronounce washed-up (audio)
Definition of washed-upnext
as in degenerate
having lost forcefulness, courage, or spirit he felt rather washed-up after this latest business failure

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of washed-up Deborah sees Ava as entitled and self-righteous, Ava sees Deborah as washed-up and boring. — Los Angeles Times, 29 May 2026 Hacks season 5 Five years ago, Ava (Hannah Einbinder) struggled to accept her lot in life when she was hired to be washed-up comedian Deborah Vance's (Jean Smart) new writer. — Rebecca Aizin, PEOPLE, 10 Apr. 2026 The film, about a group of revolutionaries who reunite to help one of their own — Bob Ferguson, a washed-up, paranoid stoner — rescue his daughter from their longtime enemy, has a lot to say about our fraught, divisive reality. — Lauren Huff, Entertainment Weekly, 27 Sep. 2025 Last offseason, the Washington Capitals signed several players seen as washed-up or underachieving. — The Christian Science Monitor, Christian Science Monitor, 7 Apr. 2025 Forget washed-up — Escola might not yet be a widely recognizable name, but the 37-year-old is on track to become one of the most original and influential voices in the alternative comedy scene. — Ct Jones, Rolling Stone, 6 Feb. 2024
Recent Examples of Synonyms for washed-up
  1. degenerate
  2. decayed
  3. weak
  4. overripe
  5. degraded
  6. effete
  7. decadent
Adjective
  • Or when some man behaving like a degenerate gambler plods into Chelsea Gray’s DMs with a disgusting slur.
    — Candace Buckner, New York Times, 27 July 2026
  • Populist theatrics, divorced from the prosaic work of consensus-building and problem-solving, degenerate into political escapism.
    — Will Marshall, Washington Post, 18 July 2026
Definition of degenerate
Adjective
  • Discard any that look dead or decayed.
    — Helena Madden, Martha Stewart, 2 Apr. 2026
  • The farm buildings on the property—long verandas, shearing sheds, and concrete kennels—are old and decayed, remnants from long before the group showed up.
    — Robert Rubsam, The Atlantic, 26 Mar. 2026
Definition of decayed
Adjective
  • Similar to Spokane, the windiest periods will be during the daytime from Friday through Sunday, with weaker winds each night.
    — Mary Gilbert, CNN Money, 6 Aug. 2026
  • The next step came in 2009, when mathematicians Jordan Ellenberg, Akshay Venkatesh and Craig Westerland posted a preprint paper that claimed to prove a weaker version of the conjecture for every prime.
    — Lyndie Chiou, Scientific American, 5 Aug. 2026
Definition of weak
Adjective
  • At its proudly overripe heart, the series is a gothic domestic soap—Lifetime themes gussied up in Southern finery.
    — Inkoo Kang, The New Yorker, 31 Oct. 2022
  • Check your raspberry patch and harvest every few days to avoid overripe fruit that attracts picnic beetles and other pests.
    — Melinda Myers, Star Tribune, 30 July 2021
Definition of overripe
Adjective
  • Devastating fires across Canada have blown smoke deep into dense US population centers in recent weeks and degraded air quality.
    — Bloomberg, Mercury News, 3 Aug. 2026
  • Meet the chicken kidney sponge, a true ecosystem engineer that could use its filter-feeding power to clean the degraded habitats in and around busy harbors.
    — Laura Baisas, Popular Science, 30 July 2026
Definition of degraded
Adjective
  • Republicans have sought to cast him as an effete extremist.
    — Aidan McLaughlin, Vanity Fair, 29 May 2026
  • Scarf critics accuse the accessory—and by extension, its wearers—of being effete or affected.
    — Eric Twardzik, Robb Report, 1 Dec. 2025
Definition of effete
Adjective
  • The country-fair scene in Connecticut is strong for 2026, with the livestock shows, competitions, carnival rides, decadent foods, fireworks and live music beginning in June and running through in October.
    — Kaitlyn Keegan, Hartford Courant, 7 Aug. 2026
  • There’s the Caesar salad, famously invented right here in Tijuana at Caesar’s Restaurante (now operated by the Plasencia family)—and still prepared tableside, whole leaves of romaine dragged through the decadent dressing to order.
    — Megan Spurrell, Condé Nast Traveler, 7 Aug. 2026
Definition of decadent

Browse Nearby Words

washed (over)
washed-up
washes
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Cite this Entry

“Washed-up.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/washed-up. Accessed 11 Aug. 2026.

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