attenuate

[uh-ten-yoo-eyt, uh-ten-yoo-it, -eyt]

verb (used with object)

attenuated, attenuating 

1. to weaken or reduce in force, intensity, effect, quantity, or value.

   to attenuate desire.

2. to make thin; make slender or fine.

3. Bacteriology, Immunology.,  to render less virulent, as a strain of pathogenic virus or bacterium.

4. Electronics.,  to decrease the amplitude of (an electronic signal).

   A splitter will attenuate your output.

verb (used without object)

attenuated, attenuating 

1. to become thin, fine, or weak; lessen.

   Over the years, my anger at my family attenuated and I was able to acknowledge the strengths they had given me.

adjective

1. weakened; diminishing.

2. Botany.,  tapering gradually to a narrow extremity.

attenuate

verb

1. to weaken or become weak; reduce in size, strength, density, or value

2. to make or become thin or fine; extend

3. (tr) to make (a pathogenic bacterium, virus, etc) less virulent, as by culture in special media or exposure to heat

adjective

1. diluted, weakened, slender, or reduced

2. botany tapering gradually to a point

Other Word Forms

• overattenuate verb (used with object)
• subattenuate adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of attenuate¹

First recorded in 1520–30; from Latin attenuātus (past participle of attenuāre “to make thin, reduce”); at-, tenuis, -ate ¹

Word History and Origins

Origin of attenuate¹

C16: from Latin attenuāre to weaken, from tenuis thin

Example Sentences

And then Michael is such a craftsman that every part of everything is studied and controlled and carefully attenuated.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

The measles virus is attenuated in the MMR vaccine, meaning that it has been altered to produce the appropriate immune response without triggering the disease itself.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

He recognized that if the United States were to have any meaningful relationship with Latin America, we needed to attenuate our colonialism, so he pushed through the ratification of the Panama Canal treaties.

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Only a “near-peer” competitor was needed to turn that attenuating U.S. global hegemony into accelerating imperial decline.

Read more on Salon

Over a professional career attenuated by injuries, he earned a Most Valuable Player Award and championship titles with the Portland Trail Blazers and the Boston Celtics.

Read more on New York Times

Related Words

• decrease 
• diminish 
• lessen 
• vitiate 
• weaken