enervating 1 of 2

adjective

as in exhausting

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enervating

2 of 2

verb

present participle of enervate
1
as in undermining
to deprive of emotional or intellectual vitality a lifetime of working in dreary jobs had enervated his very soul

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in weakening
to diminish the physical strength of the surgery really enervated me for weeks afterwards

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

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.
Recent Examples of enervating
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, 13 Mar. 2026 The results are often enervating though sometimes clumsy. — Eli Enis, Pitchfork, 3 Feb. 2026 This may reframe his friend’s enervating habit. — Hope Hunt, Baltimore Sun, 30 Jan. 2026 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 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
Recent Examples of Synonyms for enervating
  1. exhausting
  2. undermining
  3. weakening
  4. fatiguing
  5. draining
  6. softening
  7. debilitating
  8. deadening
Adjective
  • That algorithmic loop can be exhausting, and a Forbes Health survey found that 79% of Gen Zers report burnout from apps.
    — Rachel Hale, USA Today, 3 Sep. 2026
  • Not the fire, not the sudden death, not the exhausting fight to get back home.
    — Steve Lopez, Los Angeles Times, 1 Sep. 2026
Definition of exhausting
Verb
  • The same practices that have allowed the Kremlin to relentlessly tighten its political control are also undermining the state’s capacity to govern.
    — Andrei Soldatov, Foreign Affairs, 31 Aug. 2026
  • As to alleged contempt, the siblings could argue that exploration of a sale of the team should not count as evidence of undermining the 2017 court order.
    — Michael McCann, Sportico.com, 28 Aug. 2026
Definition of undermining
Verb
  • If superconductivity in magic-angle graphene were primarily driven by phonons, or vibrations of the atomic lattice, weakening Coulomb interactions would be expected to leave the effect largely unchanged or even strengthen it slightly.
    — Neetika Walter, Interesting Engineering, 5 Sep. 2026
  • Caterpillar carries a weakening relative strength score of just 4 out of 10 versus the S & P 500.
    — Tony Zhang, CNBC, 2 Sep. 2026
Definition of weakening
Adjective
  • But the most mentally fatiguing aspect, the work found, was having to constantly supervise the AI tools, with some employees overseeing multiple AI agents performing different tasks at the same time.
    — Frank Landymore, Futurism, 12 Mar. 2026
  • My friend was in course of opening up his country house unassisted, and after a fatiguing day discovered that the only practical bed was a child’s affair— long enough but scarcely wider than a crib.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 3 Mar. 2026
Definition of fatiguing
Verb
  • Sadly, the production was a downer, draining Kushner’s masterpiece of color and humor and inserting, in their place, gloomy projections of cityscapes and, unaccountably, David Bowie songs.
    — Emily Nussbaum, New Yorker, 3 Sep. 2026
  • Use a sunny spot, well-draining soil, and regular watering to keep mint thriving.
    — Karen Brewer Grossman, Southern Living, 1 Sep. 2026
Definition of draining
Verb
  • From removing stubborn stains to softening scratchy towels, vinegar consistently tackles the problems that detergents and fabric softeners sometimes leave behind.
    — Mary Cornetta, Better Homes & Gardens, 1 Sep. 2026
  • Meanwhile, the vitamins, delivered via skin-softening plant oils, help moisturize and firm the skin.
    — Jenny Berg, Vogue, 31 Aug. 2026
Definition of softening
Adjective
  • That’s a good thing, in the sense that even if a child is infected, the vast majority do not develop debilitating, and potentially fatal, consequences.
    — Eli Cahan, Rolling Stone, 21 Aug. 2026
  • Balancing a new baby and the demands of a job on top of the debilitating effects of postpartum depression and anxiety can drive up absenteeism and undercut job performance.
    — Jessica Guynn, USA Today, 20 Aug. 2026
Definition of debilitating
Verb
  • 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
  • Sam Lambert laid down a safety squeeze, deadening the ball in front of the plate and scoring Balls to trim the lead to 3-1.
    — Dave Montrose, The Orlando Sentinel, 16 May 2026
Definition of deadening

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Cite this Entry

“Enervating.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/enervating. Accessed 7 Sep. 2026.

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