desiccated

adjective

des·​ic·​cat·​ed ˈde-si-ˌkā-təd 

1

: dried up

a desiccated landscape

: preserved by drying

a cup of desiccated coconut

… all around were barrels of dried apples and apricots, shriveled and desiccated …

—Margaret Laurence

… when visitors come to the lab he likes to show them his collection of curiosities, which includes a desiccated octopus.

—Elizabeth Kolbert

2

: drained of emotional or intellectual vigor or vitality

Singer's utilitarianism is so dry and desiccated that it drains the drama from philosophy.

—George Will

Examples of desiccated in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The scorching Diablo Range, where cattle roam oceans of desiccated grass, lies to the east. —Literary Hub, 21 Nov. 2025

The fox’s desiccated body caught the page’s eye. —Hazlitt, 19 Nov. 2025

Excessively dehydrated soil sometimes causes bulbs to become desiccated and shrivel. —Andy Wilcox, Better Homes & Gardens, 11 Oct. 2025

Depending on temperature, the eggs hatch within one to 10 days, becoming teeny, wormlike larvae that feed on desiccated blood that the adult fleas have fed on and pooped out. —Arricca Elin Sansone, Southern Living, 18 Sep. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1670, in the meaning defined at sense 1