as in shriveled
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1
as in dried
to lose liveliness, force, or freshness
shortly after the moon landing, interest in the space program withered the old man seemed to wither suddenly upon turning 80
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2
as in faded
to lose bodily strength or vigor
if he's left on his own, he'll just wither and die
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Recent Examples of withered
Theo Belci, Artforum, 2 June 2026
Some oak trees retain their brown, withered leaves over winter, which paints a pretty picture when seen against a backdrop of white snow.
—Luke Miller, Better Homes & Gardens, 11 May 2026
The process leaves behind withered petals and a liquid that cools into a thick wax.
—Cecilia Vega, CBS News, 3 May 2026
Either shear the whole plant by a third or selectively cut withered flowers and leggy stems.
—Teresa Woodard, Midwest Living, 14 Apr. 2026
Heaps of last summer’s grassy sedge lay withered around us.
—Quanta Magazine, 6 Apr. 2026
Soft winds threaten to blow the withered flowers away.
—Celina Tebor, CNN Money, 19 Mar. 2026
Dead fruit rotted on withered evergreens, remnants of a record-cold February.
—Literary Hub, 23 Feb. 2026
Floridians can see it in the withered tones of roadside vegetation and hear it in the dry crunch of their once-green lawns.
—Orlando Sentinel Editorial Board, The Orlando Sentinel, 22 Feb. 2026
Michael Luo, New Yorker, 14 June 2026
As a skin care ingredient, hyaluronic acid floods withered, thirsty skin with moisture, thereby smoothing the appearance of fine lines.
—Sophie Wirt, InStyle, 10 June 2026
Drought has also spread across the nation’s breadbasket, where staple wheat crops that are typically used to make all-purpose flour or pasta have withered for lack of rain.
—Bloomberg, Oc Register, 27 May 2026
In recent years, however, the vaccine program withered amid cuts in health spending, the Covid pandemic and a botched restructuring of the national medical system.
—Mary Beth Sheridan, CNN Money, 17 May 2026
The ask withered under criticism from legislative leaders in both parties.
—Frederick Melo, Twin Cities, 14 May 2026
Decades of relations built through OPEC and other organizations withered under fire, while Western and Israeli ties deepened through the Abraham Accords and shared security threats from Iran.
—Judah Taub, semafor.com, 30 Apr. 2026
Its power has withered amid years without peace negotiations and Israel tightening its grip on the occupied West Bank.
—Sam Metz, Arkansas Online, 26 Apr. 2026
The Palestinian Authority, however, has not held a presidential election in 21 years, and support for it and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has withered during years of corruption and frustration over the sometimes violent advances of Jewish settlers in the West Bank.
—ABC News, 26 Apr. 2026
Adjective
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
Some oak trees retain their brown, withered leaves over winter, which paints a pretty picture when seen against a backdrop of white snow.
—Luke Miller, Better Homes & Gardens, 11 May 2026
The process leaves behind withered petals and a liquid that cools into a thick wax.
—Cecilia Vega, CBS News, 3 May 2026
Either shear the whole plant by a third or selectively cut withered flowers and leggy stems.
—Teresa Woodard, Midwest Living, 14 Apr. 2026
Heaps of last summer’s grassy sedge lay withered around us.
—Quanta Magazine, 6 Apr. 2026
Soft winds threaten to blow the withered flowers away.
—Celina Tebor, CNN Money, 19 Mar. 2026
Dead fruit rotted on withered evergreens, remnants of a record-cold February.
—Literary Hub, 23 Feb. 2026
Floridians can see it in the withered tones of roadside vegetation and hear it in the dry crunch of their once-green lawns.
—Orlando Sentinel Editorial Board, The Orlando Sentinel, 22 Feb. 2026
Verb
White evangelical churches—revivalists, under Sutton’s classification system—experienced remarkable growth, while liberal mainline Protestant churches withered.
—Michael Luo, New Yorker, 14 June 2026
As a skin care ingredient, hyaluronic acid floods withered, thirsty skin with moisture, thereby smoothing the appearance of fine lines.
—Sophie Wirt, InStyle, 10 June 2026
Drought has also spread across the nation’s breadbasket, where staple wheat crops that are typically used to make all-purpose flour or pasta have withered for lack of rain.
—Bloomberg, Oc Register, 27 May 2026
In recent years, however, the vaccine program withered amid cuts in health spending, the Covid pandemic and a botched restructuring of the national medical system.
—Mary Beth Sheridan, CNN Money, 17 May 2026
The ask withered under criticism from legislative leaders in both parties.
—Frederick Melo, Twin Cities, 14 May 2026
Decades of relations built through OPEC and other organizations withered under fire, while Western and Israeli ties deepened through the Abraham Accords and shared security threats from Iran.
—Judah Taub, semafor.com, 30 Apr. 2026
Its power has withered amid years without peace negotiations and Israel tightening its grip on the occupied West Bank.
—Sam Metz, Arkansas Online, 26 Apr. 2026
The Palestinian Authority, however, has not held a presidential election in 21 years, and support for it and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has withered during years of corruption and frustration over the sometimes violent advances of Jewish settlers in the West Bank.
—ABC News, 26 Apr. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for withered
Adjective
-
Signs of a ripe watermelon include a yellow ground spot, dull color, and a brown, shriveled stem.—
Ashlyn Needham,
Southern Living,
2 June 2026
-
Properly watering succulents keeps them healthy and prevents problems like root rot and shriveled leaves.—
Madeline Buiano,
Martha Stewart,
16 Feb. 2026
Verb
-
Companies competed for Nvidia H100 allocations like traders bidding on oil futures, accepting 12-month waitlists and signing data center leases before the concrete had dried.—
Vasu Raj Jain,
Forbes.com,
18 June 2026
-
Even before the ink had dried on the House settlement agreements, reports emerged of prospective claims buyers aggressively pitching class members with offers for pennies on the dollar and not disclosing the risks.—
Daniel Libit,
Sportico.com,
17 June 2026
Verb
-
Back on the field in Casablanca, the politics, war and debate faded away, leaving only a group of teenagers chasing a ball.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
17 June 2026
-
That faded almost immediately, though the headache lingered half the day.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
17 June 2026
Adjective
-
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
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While the beautiful people always display youth (even if it’s paid for), the always original Benito Antonio Martinez Ocasio was unrecognizable, doubling his actual age of 32 with wizened grey hair, beard and bushy eyebrows, prosthetic wrinkles and a cane.—
Merle Ginsberg,
HollywoodReporter,
5 May 2026
Verb
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At the same time, his ability in recent months to command functioning majorities in the Senate and House of Representatives has weakened considerably.—
Zachary Schermele,
USA Today,
18 June 2026
-
The study finds that auto-renewal generated higher revenue in the medium term, but the advantage weakened as the subscriber count and engagement picture deteriorated.—
HEC Paris Insights,
Forbes.com,
18 June 2026
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
Verb
-
From there, however, his scoring pace sagged somewhat down the stretch of Frölunda’s season.—
Thomas Drance,
New York Times,
5 June 2026
-
Weiss had initially sought to reinvent the CBS Evening News, dropping a two-anchor format that had sagged in the ratings.—
David Folkenflik,
NPR,
3 June 2026
Adjective
-
But over the past two decades, new research has emerged that is changing how scientists and physicians think about skeletal health.—
Priya Bhardwaj,
The Conversation,
22 June 2026
-
Because kids aren’t fully grown yet, their skeletal systems require surgeries tailored to each child’s specific growth and developmental stages, meaning a 15-year-old won’t receive the same kind of knee reconstruction surgery as a 60-year-old — or even as a 12-year-old.—
JP Shaffer,
Miami Herald,
22 June 2026
Cite this Entry
“Withered.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/withered. Accessed 23 Jun. 2026.
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