as in gaunt
dry and wrinkled usually because of old age
the old man's wizened face
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Recent Examples of wizened
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
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
Yoda Don’t underestimate the wizened little green guy putzing around with a laser sword.
—
Brian Truitt,
USA Today,
3 May 2026
Expect big feelings and a playful, wizened heart.
—
ABC News,
1 May 2026
In front of the butcher’s near where the painter lives, a vendor, wizened and bent, sets up shop.
—
Amir Ahmadi Arian,
The Dial,
15 Jan. 2026
But more alarming than the ways in which this physical space could turn against us was the simple metaphor of a wizened little man pulling a boat down a river in the dark.
—
Ann Patchett,
New Yorker,
29 Sep. 2025
Arsenal also agreed a deal for another teenager, the 16-year-old Shamrock Rovers midfielder Victor Ozhianvuna, a wizened old veteran by comparison.
—
Nick Miller,
New York Times,
25 Aug. 2025
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,
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
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
Yoda Don’t underestimate the wizened little green guy putzing around with a laser sword.
—
Brian Truitt,
USA Today,
3 May 2026
Expect big feelings and a playful, wizened heart.
—
ABC News,
1 May 2026
In front of the butcher’s near where the painter lives, a vendor, wizened and bent, sets up shop.
—
Amir Ahmadi Arian,
The Dial,
15 Jan. 2026
But more alarming than the ways in which this physical space could turn against us was the simple metaphor of a wizened little man pulling a boat down a river in the dark.
—
Ann Patchett,
New Yorker,
29 Sep. 2025
Arsenal also agreed a deal for another teenager, the 16-year-old Shamrock Rovers midfielder Victor Ozhianvuna, a wizened old veteran by comparison.
—
Nick Miller,
New York Times,
25 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for wizened
Adjective
-
The church’s punishment, however, delivered in front of the congregants, is an eerie ritual performed by a gaunt, severe visitor (Nicholas Hope).
-
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.
Verb
-
The skin split, the ends were shriveled, and the texture was limp.
-
Next, look for any dead tissue, which may appear brown, dry, or shriveled.
Adjective
-
But over the past two decades, new research has emerged that is changing how scientists and physicians think about skeletal health.
-
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.
Verb
-
White evangelical churches—revivalists, under Sutton’s classification system—experienced remarkable growth, while liberal mainline Protestant churches withered.
-
As a skin care ingredient, hyaluronic acid floods withered, thirsty skin with moisture, thereby smoothing the appearance of fine lines.
Adjective
-
Rocking back and forth nervously during a television appearance, a haggard-looking Diaz-Canel acknowledged the same talks, which his government had denied were taking place just days before.
-
Wrexham, meanwhile, was near the bottom, struggling in England’s lowest division under a haggard fan-ownership group keeping it on life support.
Verb
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The creamy dressing is made with Greek yogurt, lots of fresh and dried dill, and lemon juice, and the plate gets plenty of color from radishes, cherry tomatoes, and avocado.
-
Most can’t be dried in the dryer, but drying them on a hanger or using clothespins can cause the fabric to stretch out in all the wrong places.
Cite this Entry
“Wizened.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/wizened. Accessed 3 Jul. 2026.
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