shriveled 1 of 2

adjective

variants or shrivelled
as in withered

Related Words

Relevance

Dissimilar Words

shriveled

2 of 2

verb

variants or shrivelled
past tense of shrivel
as in drained
to become small and wrinkly usually as a result of dehydration Without irrigation, these plants would shrivel (up) and die.

Related Words

Dissimilar Words

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 shriveled
Adjective
Mango seeds should be firm and white, not shriveled or brown. — Madeline Buiano, Martha Stewart, 7 July 2026 Pests Yellowing or shriveled leaves and stunted growth can also be signs of pests. — Karen Brewer Grossman, Southern Living, 29 June 2026 New stems can become shriveled and fall off the plant, and whole segments might drop if the plant struggles with depleted soil and a too-small pot. — Megan Hughes, Better Homes & Gardens, 16 Dec. 2025 Lighter pieces that look shriveled signals that the ginger root has lost most of its moisture from sitting in storage or on the shelf too long. — Jillian Kubala, Health, 11 Dec. 2025
Verb
For decades, so much water has been taken that the river seldom meets the sea in Mexico, and its delta, once filled with lush wetlands and forests, has shriveled to stretches of dry riverbed. — Ian James, Los Angeles Times, 21 July 2026 Remove sprouts and avoid potatoes that are soft, shriveled, green, or have long sprouts to stay safe. — Melissa Kravitz Hoeffner, Martha Stewart, 19 July 2026 Avoid berries that are soft or appear mushy or shriveled as these are indications that the fruit is past its prime. — Stacey Lastoe, Southern Living, 14 July 2026 The skin split, the ends were shriveled, and the texture was limp. — Dianna Douglas, NPR, 28 June 2026 Berries that are shriveled, soft, or visibly mushy are likely past their prime and won’t be appetizing. — Jillian Kubala, Health, 30 Apr. 2026 Sales of photography, moving-image work, sculpture, and most conceptual work have shriveled up, except at the very highest levels. — Alex Greenberger, ARTnews.com, 6 Apr. 2026 Desert wildflowers shriveled up early this year due to the historic heat wave, leading to a lackluster sightseeing season and fewer visitors at some state parks. — Ray Stern, AZCentral.com, 27 Mar. 2026 And then emergency snacks for my kid, often shriveled up raisins all over the bottom of the bag. — Jessica Radloff, Glamour, 23 Mar. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for shriveled
  1. withered
  2. drained
  3. wizened
  4. dried
  5. gaunt
  6. evaporated
  7. scorched
  8. collapsed
Adjective
  • The neural wiring of the obese mouse, on the right, withered.
    — Cynthia Zarin, Harpers Magazine, 28 July 2026
  • These misshapen and withered figurines—a teddy bear with a candle and a turkey in pointed shoes—looked over at the photos from low plinths in one corner of the gallery.
    — Theo Belci, Artforum, 2 June 2026
Definition of withered
Verb
  • Still, these legal battles and the year of strikes drained the UMWA financially.
    — Elijah TanAll, Encyclopedia Britannica, 29 July 2026
  • The soil is just as dense, heavy, and poorly drained as ever.
    — Brandee Gruener, Southern Living, 29 July 2026
Definition of drained
Adjective
  • His wizened next-door neighbors (Mary Woodvine and Adrian Rawlins) are younger, mistaking him for their son Luke, a former crew member of the Rose of Nevada who died by suicide.
    — Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 19 June 2026
  • Nobody has ever wanted to watch the singer from Foreigner play baseball against Wally Joyner and a wizened Bobby Brady, and yet MTV leaned on the less-than-spectacular spectacle throughout the ‘90s.
    — Anthony Crupi, Sportico.com, 12 June 2026
Definition of wizened
Verb
  • The right specialist, sitting at the table before the ink dried.
    — Lien De Pau, Forbes.com, 29 July 2026
  • Unlike shell-in eggs, all commercial egg products, such as liquid, frozen, or dried eggs, must be pasteurized.
    — Amy Brownstein, Verywell Health, 23 July 2026
Definition of dried
Adjective
  • The church’s punishment, however, delivered in front of the congregants, is an eerie ritual performed by a gaunt, severe visitor (Nicholas Hope).
    — Robert Abele, Los Angeles Times, 19 June 2026
  • Brig is in the Upper Valais, a gaunt and conservative place where the inhabitants speak Walliser German, an Alpine dialect that many Swiss people find unintelligible.
    — Sam Knight, New Yorker, 1 June 2026
Definition of gaunt
Verb
  • The fourth star and a fairytale send off for Lionel Messi earned through lots of grit, fighting spirit and a bit of magic evaporated into the East Rutherford, New Jersey, air.
    — Patrick Sung Cuadrado, CNN Money, 20 July 2026
  • Many of them chased cheap labor overseas and evaporated anyway.
    — John Koetsier, Forbes.com, 20 July 2026
Definition of evaporated
Verb
  • Monday, the blaze jumped a control line and initially scorched another 40 acres, according to Watch Duty, a nonprofit organization and app that tracks fires.
    — Jason Green, Mercury News, 28 July 2026
  • In the Madrid region alone, 6,000 hectares (23 square miles) burnt overnight, taking the total area scorched in that region to 34,000 hectares (131 square miles) in just the last few days, Ayuso said.
    — Billy Stockwell, CNN Money, 28 July 2026
Definition of scorched
Verb
  • By reproducing Campbell’s soup cans and Marilyn Monroe portraits at industrial scale, Warhol collapsed the distinction between commerce and culture, suggesting that mass production and repetition could become a form of value in itself.
    — Amy O’Brien, Vogue, 21 July 2026
  • The country’s power grid collapsed three times this month, while water service, food production, transportation, garbage collection and medical services have been severely disrupted.
    — Nora Gámez Torres, Miami Herald, 21 July 2026
Definition of collapsed

Browse Nearby Words

shrivel
shriveled
shriveling
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Shriveled.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/shriveled. Accessed 4 Aug. 2026.

Copy Citation

More from Merriam-Webster on shriveled

Nglish: Translation of shriveled for Spanish Speakers

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of élan

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

7 Pairs of Commonly Confused Words

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

Is it 'nerve-racking' or 'nerve-wracking'?

'Sneaked' or 'Snuck': Which is correct?

Why does English have so many silent letters?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

Dutch Treat and French Leave: Eight Place-Based Compounds

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Longest Long Words List

How long is a jiffy?

Even More Bird Names that Sound Like Insults (and Sometimes Are)
See More

Popular

See More

7 Pairs of Commonly Confused Words

Dutch Treat and French Leave: Eight Place-Based Compounds

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
asap street sign
Figure Out These Acronyms ASAP You don't have to be a NASA engineer to get these...
See All