as in degenerate
having lost forcefulness, courage, or spirit
he felt rather washed-up after this latest business failure
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of washed-up
The film, about a group of revolutionaries who reunite to help one of their own — Bob Ferguson, a washed-up, paranoid stoner — rescue his daughter from their longtime enemy, has a lot to say about our fraught, divisive reality.
—
Lauren Huff, Entertainment Weekly, 27 Sep. 2025
Advertisement This is what happened last year when their most significant trade-deadline pickup was washed-up pitcher Lance Lynn, or the year before when their major summer acquisition was strikeout-prone outfielder Joey Gallo.
Dodgers
Clayton Kershaw returns to the Dodgers.
—Dylan Hernández, Los Angeles Times, 25 July 2024
Forget washed-up — Escola might not yet be a widely recognizable name, but the 37-year-old is on track to become one of the most original and influential voices in the alternative comedy scene.
—Ct Jones, Rolling Stone, 6 Feb. 2024
Lauren Huff, Entertainment Weekly, 27 Sep. 2025
Advertisement This is what happened last year when their most significant trade-deadline pickup was washed-up pitcher Lance Lynn, or the year before when their major summer acquisition was strikeout-prone outfielder Joey Gallo.
Dodgers
Clayton Kershaw returns to the Dodgers.
—Dylan Hernández, Los Angeles Times, 25 July 2024
Forget washed-up — Escola might not yet be a widely recognizable name, but the 37-year-old is on track to become one of the most original and influential voices in the alternative comedy scene.
—Ct Jones, Rolling Stone, 6 Feb. 2024
Recent Examples of Synonyms for washed-up
Adjective
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In Osamu Dazai’s The Setting Sun, Kazuko despairs of the pain that her brother Naoji’s drug addiction and degenerate behavior have caused the family.—
Christine Smallwood,
Harpers Magazine,
24 Mar. 2026
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The latest film from Polish filmmaker Jan Komasa follows a 19-year-old degenerate raver from London who, in the last gasp of an all-time bender, is kidnapped by Stephen Graham and chained up in the basement of a posh estate.—
Ryan Lattanzio,
IndieWire,
6 Mar. 2026
Adjective
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The farm buildings on the property—long verandas, shearing sheds, and concrete kennels—are old and decayed, remnants from long before the group showed up.—
Robert Rubsam,
The Atlantic,
26 Mar. 2026
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Vines growing on the trunk and branches can hide structural damage or potential hazards like a canker or decayed section of a branch or the trunk.—
Tim Johnson,
Chicago Tribune,
22 Mar. 2026
Adjective
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An atmospheric river should track across California, even into southern California, by Tuesday, March 31, but is currently forecast to remain too weak to cause flooding issues, the WPC said.—
Doyle Rice,
USA Today,
28 Mar. 2026
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At the hospital in Dollow, mothers sat shoulder to shoulder on narrow beds holding frail children, some too weak to cry while others let out soft whimpers.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
27 Mar. 2026
Adjective
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At its proudly overripe heart, the series is a gothic domestic soap—Lifetime themes gussied up in Southern finery.—
Inkoo Kang,
The New Yorker,
31 Oct. 2022
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But at the end of 2021, S&P profits already looked overripe.—
Shawn Tully,
Fortune,
13 Oct. 2022
Adjective
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From there, your IT department can break down and analyze the data in any way that’s useful—tracking degradation along laptop generations, targeting particularly degraded units, identifying applications with heavy battery drain, and more.—
John Burek,
PC Magazine,
25 Mar. 2026
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When a degraded grassland returns to health, the ground heaves up, as if inhaling with relief.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
25 Mar. 2026
Adjective
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Scarf critics accuse the accessory—and by extension, its wearers—of being effete or affected.—
Eric Twardzik,
Robb Report,
1 Dec. 2025
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What we’re left with is an effete description that exists for itself and doesn’t illuminate the character.—
Hannah Gold,
New Yorker,
29 Aug. 2025
Adjective
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In the wine room, a similar level of decadent drama reigns.—
Kathryn O’Shea-Evans,
Robb Report,
29 Mar. 2026
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The avenue where tension is rich and decadent is on display here.—
David John Chávez,
Mercury News,
27 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Washed-up.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/washed-up. Accessed 3 Apr. 2026.
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