1
as in to undermine
to deprive of emotional or intellectual vitality
a lifetime of working in dreary jobs had enervated his very soul
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in to weaken
to diminish the physical strength of
the surgery really enervated me for weeks afterwards
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in feeble
Related Words
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of enervate
Dan Brooks, The Atlantic, 2 Oct. 2025
Bears do not truly hibernate, but instead enervate, or enter a state of torpor, in their dens.
—Natalie Krebs, Outdoor Life, 25 Sep. 2025
Looming over all of it has been the sad, enervating situation with Alexander Isak, forever enshrined as a club legend by dint of Wembley last season but now beyond the point of tarnishing that legacy.
—George Caulkin, New York Times, 10 Aug. 2025
This relationship, when successful, tends to enervate mediating institutions that thwart the immediate desires of both the populist leader and the public.
—Cameron Hilditch, National Review, 28 Feb. 2021
Perhaps the most intimate of these photographs presents her after a shower, wet and enervated, rubbing a cloth across her reflection in a mirror, as though the condensation were crud.
—Eren Orbey, The New Yorker, 6 Feb. 2020
But the art which resists the slow sap of a chronic disease—which repairs frames enervated by lust, swollen by gluttony, or inflamed by wine . .
—Chris Pope, WSJ, 17 Mar. 2019
Adjective
Some of these values—such as a disciplined commitment to physical fitness—are good and, in my opinion, necessary correctives to the enervating distractions of 21st-century living.
—Dan Brooks, The Atlantic, 2 Oct. 2025
Bears do not truly hibernate, but instead enervate, or enter a state of torpor, in their dens.
—Natalie Krebs, Outdoor Life, 25 Sep. 2025
Looming over all of it has been the sad, enervating situation with Alexander Isak, forever enshrined as a club legend by dint of Wembley last season but now beyond the point of tarnishing that legacy.
—George Caulkin, New York Times, 10 Aug. 2025
This relationship, when successful, tends to enervate mediating institutions that thwart the immediate desires of both the populist leader and the public.
—Cameron Hilditch, National Review, 28 Feb. 2021
Perhaps the most intimate of these photographs presents her after a shower, wet and enervated, rubbing a cloth across her reflection in a mirror, as though the condensation were crud.
—Eren Orbey, The New Yorker, 6 Feb. 2020
But the art which resists the slow sap of a chronic disease—which repairs frames enervated by lust, swollen by gluttony, or inflamed by wine . .
—Chris Pope, WSJ, 17 Mar. 2019
Recent Examples of Synonyms for enervate
Verb
-
One bad manager or leader can, in but a few months, undermine a team with decades of collective service to the organization.—
Jessica Coacci,
Fortune,
9 Oct. 2025
-
Whatever desire the audience might have to root for Kerr is undermined by his mounting failures in the ring and his growing friction with Dawn.—
David Sims,
The Atlantic,
9 Oct. 2025
Verb
-
But with her coalition prospects in doubt, and the party weakened by scandal and voter frustration, her route to Japan’s top job is far from assured.—
Hanako Montgomery,
CNN Money,
11 Oct. 2025
-
Studies have found that, in some instances, background noise can weaken territorial responses in males.—
JSTOR Daily,
JSTOR Daily,
10 Oct. 2025
Adjective
-
The festival unfolds at a particularly tenuous time for the documentary field, which for the past several years has faced a feeble acquisition market.—
Matthew Carey,
Deadline,
9 Oct. 2025
-
Cupping was quite popular among feeble white women in North America, and those same marks, Daria knew, were present on her own body, concealed beneath her loose T-shirt.—
Catherine Lacey,
New Yorker,
5 Oct. 2025
Verb
-
Instead of gradually boiling into insanity, the film hits fever pitch hallucinations right away and quickly exhausts itself attempting to keep pace.—
J. Kim Murphy,
Variety,
11 Oct. 2025
-
Vacherot won the next two points, exhausting Djokovic in a rally to get to 40-Ad.—
James Hansen,
New York Times,
11 Oct. 2025
Verb
-
Yet analysts expect her stance on visits to the Yasukuni shrine will soften in office.—
Hanako Montgomery,
CNN Money,
11 Oct. 2025
-
Sorbitol pulls water into your colon to soften stools.—
Julie Marks,
Verywell Health,
10 Oct. 2025
Adjective
-
During a hospital stay, Roy’s enfeebled mother fixates on the caste and religious affiliations of the doctors treating her—the sort of thing that will be familiar to anyone who has cringed at a diminished elder’s unfiltered prejudices.—
Rebecca Mead,
New Yorker,
3 Sep. 2025
Verb
-
González, not known as a shooter when the Celtics drafted him, drained one of two 3-point attempts.—
Jay King,
New York Times,
9 Oct. 2025
-
Most indoor plants are watered from the top until the water drains from the pot through the drainage holes.—
Mary Marlowe Leverette,
Southern Living,
9 Oct. 2025
Verb
-
Rather than slash and swing away after spotting the play, Stott tried to get the ball down and deaden it, increasing the level of difficulty.—
Fabian Ardaya,
New York Times,
7 Oct. 2025
-
Now, Sora 2 might just be another online fad, a reality-deadening distraction that people will soon tire of.—
Brian Stelter,
CNN Money,
3 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Enervate.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/enervate. Accessed 14 Oct. 2025.
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