vegetate

veg·e·tate | \ ˈve-jə-ˌtāt

How to pronounce vegetate (audio)

\

vegetated; vegetating

Definition of vegetate

intransitive verb

1 : to lead a passive existence without exertion of body or mind

2a : to grow in the manner of a plant also : to grow exuberantly or with proliferation of fleshy or warty outgrowths

b : to produce vegetation

transitive verb

: to establish vegetation in or on

Examples of vegetate in a Sentence

I just spent the weekend vegetating at home. I'm worried that after I retire I'll just sit at home, watch TV, and vegetate.

Recent Examples on the Web In the 58 years since the Skycrane’s first flight, fire seasons have lengthened across a quarter of the Earth’s vegetated surface, giving rise to about a 20 percent increase in the global length of the fire weather season. — Eric Tegler, Popular Mechanics, "A Vietnam Helo's New Robot Brain Will Help Fight a Different Kind of Enemy," 9 Mar. 2020 Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one’s lifetime. — National Geographic, "How can travelers be as resilient as our planet?," 21 Jan. 2020 Yes, football has its problems, but what's more indulgent, more American, than vegetating on the couch for four hours, gorging on queso and analyzing beer commercials with a bunch of your favorite people? — Aj Willingham, CNN, "This party gives a new meaning to the word 'sportsmanship'," 1 Feb. 2020 Planting trees and ensuring soils are always vegetated with a cover crop such as clover between cropping seasons can also slow water and trap soil. — Dan Evans, Quartz, "Soil could solve climate change—if we save it," 29 Dec. 2019 Rake leaves, go to a football game or just vegetate on the sofa. — Tribune Content Agency, oregonlive, "Horoscope for Nov. 2, 2019: Libra, focus on your immediate needs; Pisces, the sky is the limit," 2 Nov. 2019 Of this green space, 33 percent consists of natural habitats within open space, and 14 percent vegetated private or domestic garden land. — Simon Ingram, National Geographic, "Visit the world’s first National Park City," 26 July 2019 Agriculture already uses almost half of the world’s vegetated land. — Stephen Leahy, National Geographic, "How to feed the world without destroying the planet," 17 July 2019 Since the late 1990s, more than half of the world’s vegetated landscapes have experienced a growing deficit, or drying pattern. — Scientific American, "Earth Stopped Getting Greener 20 Years Ago," 15 Aug. 2019

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'vegetate.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Keep scrolling for more

Learn More about vegetate

Dictionary Entries near vegetate

vegetation type

Statistics for vegetate

Cite this Entry

“Vegetate.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/vegetate. Accessed 20 Jan. 2021.

Keep scrolling for more

WORD OF THE DAY

gulosity

Listen to the pronunciation of gulosity

See Definitions and Examples »

Get Word of the Day daily email!

Test Your Vocabulary

Words of Snow and Ice Quiz

Which of the following refers to thin, bending ice, or to the act of running over such ice?

Test your knowledge - and maybe learn something along the way.

Anagram puzzles meet word search.