desiccated
Americanadjective
adjective
-
dehydrated and powdered
desiccated coconut
-
lacking in spirit or animation
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of desiccated
Explanation
To be desiccated is to be dried out. If you like desiccated fruit, you like dried fruit — such as raisins or dried apricots. Something that's described with the adjective desiccated is extremely dry, or parched. During a drought, the ground becomes cracked and desiccated. Removing moisture and humidity from something is what makes it become desiccated. The Latin root, desiccatus, means "to make very dry."
Vocabulary lists containing desiccated
Into the Wild
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Ender's Game
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This Week In Words: August 22–28, 2020
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Finally, Sen. Mitch McConnell’s desiccated remains returned to cast a vote in the Senate.
From Salon ● Sep. 18, 2026
We drove past more empty lots, more abandoned groves, desiccated trees, signs announcing public hearings for land-use changes.
From Slate ● Apr. 20, 2026
It also got a reprieve in November, when Trump modified his executive order to exempt more than 100 food items from the tariffs—including the desiccated coconut Kesselhaut imports from the Philippines.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 31, 2026
"Everything is there. I was stuck here," he told AFP in Karachi, near the well-known Bengali market where he peddles desiccated fish and prawns to make ends meet for $7 to $9 per day.
From Barron's ● Feb. 23, 2026
In the wedding registry of Alton, New Hampshire, they remained married, their contract a legal if desiccated thing.
From "The Devil in the White City" by Erik Larson
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Get a wordDefinitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
