ENERVATING Synonyms: 206 Similar and Opposite Words

enervating 1 of 2

adjective

as in exhausting

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Dissimilar Words

enervating

2 of 2

verb

present participle of enervate

as in undermining

to deprive of emotional or intellectual vitality a lifetime of working in dreary jobs had enervated his very soul

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

as in weakening

to diminish the physical strength of the surgery really enervated me for weeks afterwards

Synonyms & Similar Words

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

Adjective

There was a twisted irony in the internal confrontation required to make a record like that, mirroring the exhausting amount of time we were all made to spend with ourselves back then.

— Larisha Paul, Rolling Stone, 17 Sep. 2026
There was always going to be some regression, but in this season of extremes, the whiplash is exhausting.

— Matt Gelb, New York Times, 16 Sep. 2026

Definition of exhausting

Verb

For undermining traditional religious authority, he was eventually sentenced to death.

— Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 18 Sep. 2026
Partying, drinking, Greek life, sports, and other forms of college life always risked undermining the educational project—and vice versa.

— Ian Bogost, The Atlantic, 17 Sep. 2026

Definition of undermining

Verb

That slows price increases by generally weakening economic growth.

— Matt Peterson, CNBC, 15 Sep. 2026
The immediate priorities are to understand which existing revenue is most secure, where client demand may be weakening and which relationships could lead to additional or recurring work.

— Expert Panel®, Forbes.com, 15 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

Every night before dinner, my father would perform this ritual—rinsing and draining, then setting the pot in the cooker.

— Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 17 Sep. 2026
In fact, many expensive features can turn into money pits, draining your budget without adding any resale appeal.

— Angelika Pokovba, Martha Stewart, 16 Sep. 2026

Definition of draining

Verb

The Sagittarius Moon trines Chiron in your partnership zone, softening the instinct to package every feeling so perfectly that nobody could possibly object.

— Tarot.com, Chicago Tribune, 19 Sep. 2026
China's oil import diet in turn helped ease global demand, softening the upward price effects for the United States, Europe and beyond.

— ABC News, ABC News, 19 Sep. 2026

Definition of softening

Adjective

According to the Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), threats to these sectors can create debilitating impacts on the economy, public health and safety.

— Julie Song, Forbes.com, 16 Sep. 2026
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

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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enervates

enervating

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“Enervating.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/enervating. Accessed 21 Sep. 2026.

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Synonyms of enervating

adjective

verb

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