atrophy
Americannoun
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Pathology. Also atrophia a wasting away of the body or of an organ or part, as from defective nutrition or nerve damage.
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degeneration, decline, or decrease, as from disuse.
He argued that there was a progressive atrophy of freedom and independence of thought.
verb (used with or without object)
noun
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a wasting away of an organ or part, or a failure to grow to normal size as the result of disease, faulty nutrition, etc
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any degeneration or diminution, esp through lack of use
verb
Discover More
The term is also used in a more general way to refer to a wasting process: “Since he stopped playing, his piano skills have atrophied.”
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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atrophysimple
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atrophiessimple
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have atrophiedperfect
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has atrophiedperfect
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am atrophyingprogressive
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are atrophyingprogressive
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is atrophyingprogressive
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have been atrophyingperfect progressive
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has been atrophyingperfect progressive
Past
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atrophiedsimple
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had atrophiedperfect
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was atrophyingprogressive
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were atrophyingprogressive
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had been atrophyingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of atrophy
First recorded in 1590–1600; earlier atrophie, from Middle French, from Late Latin atrophia, from Greek, from átroph(os) “not fed, unnourished” (from a- a- 6 + troph(ḗ) “nourishment” + -os, adjective suffix; see tropho-) + -ia -ia
Explanation
Wearing a cast on a broken leg can cause atrophy, or withering, in the leg, because it is immobilized and gets no exercise. Appearing in English in the 17th century, the word atrophy originally described a lack of nourishment. Atrophy occurs in parts of the body that can't move or be "fed" because of disease or injury. It also is used to describe things that go dull through lack of use, like skills in sports or artistic creativity. The (unrelated) word "trophy" refers to something that sits on a shelf and is admired, while atrophy is a condition of being "shelved," or made inactive and lifeless.
Vocabulary lists containing atrophy
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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.
See Examples For:
Human brains function on a pretty strict use-it-or-lose-it policy: When they’re not engaged, they start to atrophy.
From Salon ● Jun. 10, 2026
Apitegromab works by blocking a protein involved in the breakdown of muscle and is also being explored as a treatment for other medical conditions affecting muscles, including spinal muscular atrophy.
From BBC ● Jun. 8, 2026
FDA documents describe it as a prescription device intended to improve visual acuity in patients with certain forms of dry AMD and without center involving geographic atrophy or neovascular maculopathy.
From Science Daily ● May 27, 2026
Syfovre is Apellis’ treatment for geographic atrophy, an immune-mediated retinal disease.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 31, 2026
The gates popped open with a metallic screech and we slipped through the small gap rust and atrophy would allow.
From "The Marrow Thieves" by Cherie Dimaline
Despite massive vocal opposition, cognitive offloading is addictive, and our capacity for deep work atrophies with every use.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 26, 2026
NBCUniversal is cutting “Access Hollywood” and several other of its daytime talk shows, effectively ending its first run syndication business as daytime television atrophies.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 13, 2026
"When you get machines thinking for you, your brain just atrophies."
From BBC ● Jul. 10, 2025
As we age, our brain gradually atrophies, losing nerve cells and connections and this can lead to a decline in brain function.
From Science Daily ● Feb. 6, 2024
The social spirit is not cultivated,—in fact, in so far as the purely individualistic method gets in its work, it atrophies for lack of use.
From Moral Principles in Education by Dewey, John
“It’s like a muscle that maybe has atrophied a little bit over the years,” Gould said in his interview with the Journal.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 17, 2026
Any principles beyond those have atrophied into invisibility.
From Salon ● Apr. 20, 2025
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
“Our muscles have surely atrophied these past weeks.”
From "Between Shades of Gray" by Ruta Sepetys
After exhausting holistic options, he saw a doctor who said one of his vocal cords was atrophying.
From Seattle Times ● Apr. 23, 2024
On Tuesday, the company’s founder and financial lifeline, the eBay billionaire Jeff Skoll, pulled the plug — a decision based, at least in part, on the atrophying entertainment business.
From New York Times ● Apr. 16, 2024
"After two years, part of my brain was atrophying," one said.
From BBC ● Feb. 4, 2024
The work the body does against gravity to stay upright and move around keeps muscles from atrophying and stimulates bone growth.
From Scientific American ● Sep. 19, 2023
Over the weeks that followed he languished in the hospital, arms curled grotesquely at his sides, muscles atrophying, his weight dropping below 80 pounds.
From "Into Thin Air" by Jon Krakauer
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.
