atrophied
Americanadjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of atrophied
Explanation
Describe something as atrophied if it's shrunken or made smaller and weaker because of illness. If you've ever had a broken arm, you know that after months inside a cast your muscles become somewhat atrophied. Medically, when a body part is atrophied, it's started to waste away. Arms and legs can become atrophied from injury or disuse, and even internal organs can be atrophied when they're affected by disease. People who don't have enough food to eat eventually develop atrophied bodies, diminished by lack of nutrition. The Greek root is atrophia, "a wasting away," from a, "not," and trophe, "nourishment."
Vocabulary lists containing atrophied
A Wrinkle in Time
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As Long as the Lemon Trees Grow
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Swann's Way
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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.
Today, the Pentagon is grappling with America’s atrophied industrial base while racing to adopt AI technologies that private companies have already woven into their systems—like the frozen-dessert management system Kain stumbled on.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 29, 2026
The pandemic, for all its lessons, quietly atrophied some of our neighboring muscles, and many of us are still figuring out how to use them again.
From Salon ● Jan. 19, 2026
Those muscles atrophied, leaving a huge opportunity for someone like Matt.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 19, 2025
Social skills and conversational ease have stiffened and atrophied.
From New York Times ● May 14, 2024
The compression stockings were more comfortable than the bandages had been, and Sasha’s atrophied leg muscles had regained their strength.
From "The 57 Bus" by Dashka Slater
Definitions 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.
