1
as in to undermine
to deprive of emotional or intellectual vitality
overuse has devitalized many a once-striking figure of speech
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in to weaken
to diminish the physical strength of
she was devitalized by the infection
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of devitalize
This can devitalize the plant to the point of it starting to die back.
—
oregonlive,
5 Feb. 2023
Miller’s writing début may have been precipitated by her assault, but the final work devitalizes its horrific beginnings.
—
Doreen St. Félix,
The New Yorker,
11 Oct. 2019
His lip was completely destroyed with multiple linear lacerations, jagged lacerations, devitalized tissue, denervated tissue with a 12 cm laceration in multiple pieces of the entire left upper lift, the mucosal surface, and orbicularis.
—
Edmund H. Mahony,
courant.com,
1 June 2017
oregonlive,
5 Feb. 2023
Miller’s writing début may have been precipitated by her assault, but the final work devitalizes its horrific beginnings.
—
Doreen St. Félix,
The New Yorker,
11 Oct. 2019
His lip was completely destroyed with multiple linear lacerations, jagged lacerations, devitalized tissue, denervated tissue with a 12 cm laceration in multiple pieces of the entire left upper lift, the mucosal surface, and orbicularis.
—
Edmund H. Mahony,
courant.com,
1 June 2017
Recent Examples of Synonyms for devitalize
Verb
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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.
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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
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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.
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All three of those protagonists have been weakened in their roles by what has gone on.
Verb
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Several environmental groups have also proposed removing or entirely bypassing the Glen Canyon Dam, draining what's left into Lake Mead, and implementing stricter water conservation measures.
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The president said that his administration would have to drain the pool and start over again as the new liner shed chunks of itself.
Verb
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Speaking of glow, Medicube is also marking down their milky toner, which helps boost radiance, soften skin, and increase hydration.
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Grandchildren tend to soften even the most complicated family disputes.
Verb
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For a country exhausted by notifications, that simplicity has become its own selling point.
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But mostly they were exhausted from balancing their teaching careers with single parenting.
Verb
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Colombia wasted no time imposing itself on the Portugal defense, taking two shots in the opening minutes, the first a header by Cordoba after a Diaz shot was deflected, and another by Rodriguez that went wide.
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Simply wrap your hair around the flexible rod, go to sleep, and wake up with a head full of curls without wasting time getting ready.
Verb
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The first film follows a group of French high-school students who travel to Naples on a school trip to discover the ruins of Pompeii and the bodies petrified by Vesuvius.
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Johansson plays her with a tough edge to match her Queens accent, but Hester is clearly petrified by this perfect storm of ugly events.
Verb
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The impact of that shocking final scene is sufficient to send viewers out feeling enervated after what’s been a pretty desultory final act.
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Campbell, the North Carolina folk singer, describes an enervating process marked by back-and-forth exchanges and lots of waiting.
Cite this Entry
“Devitalize.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/devitalize. Accessed 29 Jun. 2026.
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