Showing results for "withering"

• present participle of wither.

withering

American  

[with-er-ing] / ˈwɪð ər ɪŋ /

adjective

1. scathing; deeply humiliating; contemptuous.

2. causing harm or loss of vitality; damaging.

3. (of plants) wilting or shriveling up, such as from disease or lack of moisture.

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Explanation

Withering is the process of becoming weaker. You can watch the withering of a flower bouquet in water — over the days and weeks, the blossoms become droopy and faded. You might talk about the withering of trees in a drought or the withering of people's bank accounts during an economic recession. Withering can also be used as an adjective, to describe something with a terrible, destructive strength, like a withering hurricane. It comes from the verb wither, to dry up or shrivel, from the Old English word wydderen, which is a variation on wederen, "to expose to the weather."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

withering

And in return, they surely will win a third consecutive championship against a withering and overmatched group of pretenders that could add Skubal only in their dreams.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 2, 2026

"Sternly staring at inflation until it melts before our withering gaze is not an option."

From BBC ● Jul. 14, 2026

It has coincided with a withering heat wave in the eastern U.S.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 7, 2026

With Richards’s gnarled, withering guitar lines and Jagger drawling and declaiming, there’s no mistaking the band behind “Foreign Tongues.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 6, 2026

As soon as she took her hand away, he sprang up and gave her a withering look.

From "Ship Breaker" by Paolo Bacigalupi