devitalizing

verb

present participle of devitalize
1
as in undermining
to deprive of emotional or intellectual vitality overuse has devitalized many a once-striking figure of speech

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in weakening
to diminish the physical strength of she was devitalized by the infection

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for devitalizing
  1. undermining
  2. weakening
  3. draining
  4. softening
  5. exhausting
  6. wasting
  7. enervating
  8. deadening
Verb
  • Fighting escalated late last month, undermining the November 2022 peace agreement that ended a devastating two-year war.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 8 Oct. 2026
  • Private equity firms also sometimes own both physician staffing firms and Independent Dispute Resolution entities, creating a conflict of interest and undermining the law's fairness.
    — Anna Schecter, CBS News, 7 Oct. 2026
Definition of undermining
Verb
  • While critics claim the court cases are politically motivated and aimed at weakening the opposition, the government insists the country’s judiciary is independent and free from political influence.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 7 Oct. 2026
  • Those tasks had often depended on personal relationships rather than formal job requirements, and the researchers found those ties were weakening.
    — Bilin Lin, Fortune, 5 Oct. 2026
Definition of weakening
Verb
  • Oak Lawn Mayor Terry Vorderer previously said investigating video gambling terminal thefts was draining village resources.
    — Olivia Stevens, Chicago Tribune, 8 Oct. 2026
  • Under President Joe Biden, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau ordered Tel*Link to pay $3 million for illegally freezing and draining funds from incarcerated people’s accounts.
    — Gaby Del Valle, The Verge, 8 Oct. 2026
Definition of draining
Verb
  • In the late 1970s, Giorgio Armani stripped the structure out of the traditional suit, softening its shoulders and loosening its trousers.
    — John Vorwald, Robb Report, 11 Oct. 2026
  • Even with used vehicle prices softening slightly, high borrowing costs keep monthly payments out of reach for many prospective buyers.
    — Michael Khouw, CNBC, 9 Oct. 2026
Definition of softening
Verb
  • The gentle squeeze around your legs provides other surprising health benefits on exhausting travel days.
    — Olivia Young, Travel + Leisure, 27 Sep. 2026
  • Commanders should seek positional advantages without exhausting their soldiers, manipulate the enemy’s movements when possible, and recognize when circumstances make pursuit or attack unwise.
    — Ethan Teekah, Encyclopedia Britannica, 11 Sep. 2026
Definition of exhausting
Verb
  • House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) said on Thursday that Republicans were wasting money by targeting two House seats held by vulnerable Democrats in the state of New York.
    — Lauren Green, The Washington Examiner, 8 Oct. 2026
  • Identifying the cause of your hair loss first is what keeps you from wasting money on the wrong product, according to Kazlouskaya.
    — Hanna Wickes, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 7 Oct. 2026
Definition of wasting
Verb
  • Campbell, the North Carolina folk singer, describes an enervating process marked by back-and-forth exchanges and lots of waiting.
    — Jon Blistein, Rolling Stone, 25 Mar. 2026
  • Jenny deflected me with enervating ease.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 13 Mar. 2026
Definition of enervating
Verb
  • Inside the cabin, extensive additional sound deadening in the doors, trunk and wheel arches means phone calls and passenger conversations are entirely effortless at highway speeds.
    — New Atlas, New Atlas, 2 Oct. 2026
  • Each presents a group portrait of a handful of disaffected British suburbanites—husbands who resent their deadening jobs, toddlers who whine and interrupt, and, above all, hassled wives subsumed by a crush of household obligations.
    — Becca Rothfeld, New Yorker, 16 Aug. 2026
Definition of deadening
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.

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devitalizes
devitalizing
devoid
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Cite this Entry

“Devitalizing.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/devitalizing. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

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