as in to deteriorate
to become worse or of less value
in the years following the closing of the last textile mill, the town atrophied
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in degeneration
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of atrophy
Sam Manzella, Flow Space, 10 Sep. 2025
While navigation assistance provides immediate utility, studies indicate systematic atrophy of spatial memory and environmental awareness among frequent users.
—Cornelia C. Walther, Forbes.com, 3 Sep. 2025
Sasha Rogelberg, Fortune, 26 Aug. 2025
That episode drives home how deeply the oversight capacities of the American system have atrophied in its wake.
—Chris Lehmann, Harpers Magazine, 20 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for atrophy
Verb
Commonly used to treat vaginal atrophy during menopause, DHEA is a precursor to testosterone and, in some women, has been shown to elevate testosterone levels.
—Sam Manzella, Flow Space, 10 Sep. 2025
While navigation assistance provides immediate utility, studies indicate systematic atrophy of spatial memory and environmental awareness among frequent users.
—Cornelia C. Walther, Forbes.com, 3 Sep. 2025
Noun
The real-life consequences of automation atrophying human critical skills are already well-established.
—Sasha Rogelberg, Fortune, 26 Aug. 2025
That episode drives home how deeply the oversight capacities of the American system have atrophied in its wake.
—Chris Lehmann, Harpers Magazine, 20 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for atrophy
Recent Examples of Synonyms for atrophy
Verb
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Instead, the property has passed hands from private owner to private owner, hidden from view off a lonely winding road, slowly deteriorating over the years.—
Amanda Rosa
October 23,
Miami Herald,
23 Oct. 2025
-
Grid operators are warning of steep increases in electricity demand for the first time in decades, leading utilities to race to expand capacity by reviving plans for natural-gas plants or building new ones, and, in some regions, even extending the life of deteriorating coal facilities.—
Sharon Goldman,
Fortune,
22 Oct. 2025
Noun
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Not only are relapses unpredictable but scientists have yet to explain the slow and insidious degeneration that often occurs even without new lesions.—
Lucinda Rosenfeld,
New Yorker,
25 Oct. 2025
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Looking ahead, the research team plans to test the new compounds in animal and human studies, in hopes that this could lead to a new approach for slowing or repairing brain degeneration for patients with neurodegenerative diseases.—
Melissa Rudy,
FOXNews.com,
20 Oct. 2025
Verb
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Contract options exercised for 4 The club exercised contract options on Stephen Afrifa, Zorhan Bassong, Jansen Miller and John Pulskamp, while declining options for Tim Leibold, Nemanja Radoja, Ryan Schewe, Shelton and Mason Toye.—
Daniel Sperry,
Kansas City Star,
23 Oct. 2025
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However, her cousin the followed up, and the OP wrote back declining the invite.—
Charna Flam,
PEOPLE,
23 Oct. 2025
Noun
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The causes of the deterioration are different in each case, and some of Washington’s grievances against Brazil, India, and South Africa—global swing states that will help dictate which country leads the world—are legitimate.—
Richard Fontaine,
Foreign Affairs,
27 Oct. 2025
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According to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, CMT causes a range of sensory and motor symptoms, including numbness, tingling, pain, muscle weakness and atrophy — deterioration in cells, tissues, and organs.—
Diana Leyva,
Nashville Tennessean,
24 Oct. 2025
Verb
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The fouling problem worsens in warm climates, where biological activity peaks year-round.—
Tejasri Gururaj,
Interesting Engineering,
24 Oct. 2025
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As the lamprey crisis worsened, various chemical companies sent compounds to the lab, which was searching for a panacea.—
Katie Thornton,
New Yorker,
24 Oct. 2025
Noun
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Despite years of legal battles over the relocations, more than 150,000 bodies were exhumed from the 1920s to the early 1940s for the trip to Colma, each in various stages of decay.—
Chris Kenning,
USA Today,
25 Oct. 2025
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Why didn’t evolution produce a more dependable version of the human body, less prone to malfunction and decay?—
Lucinda Rosenfeld,
New Yorker,
25 Oct. 2025
Verb
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Careers shift, relationships evolve and whatever’s been built on shaky grounds tends to crumble in order for something strong and enduring to take root.—
Valerie Mesa,
PEOPLE,
27 Oct. 2025
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While Dalton was inept in his fill-in duty, the Panthers’ defense also crumbled, especially against the run.—
DIAMOND VENCES,
Charlotte Observer,
26 Oct. 2025
Noun
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Columbus’s historic journey to the Caribbean occurred amid significant changes in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, including the exploration of the Canary Islands and Cape Verde, the weakening of Islam, and the rise of Christianity in the form of Catholicism.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
23 Oct. 2025
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That was obviously the weakening of your internal khozayka.—
Julia Ioffe,
New Yorker,
19 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Atrophy.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/atrophy. Accessed 31 Oct. 2025.
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