atrophied

American  

[a-truh-feed] / ˈæ trə fid /

adjective

1. exhibiting or affected with atrophy; wasted; withered; shriveled.

   an atrophied arm; an atrophied talent.

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Other Word Forms

• nonatrophied adjective
• unatrophied adjective

Etymology

Origin of atrophied

First recorded in 1590–1600; atrophy + -ed ²

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."

Example Sentences

“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

Social skills and conversational ease have stiffened and atrophied.

From New York Times • May 14, 2024

Last month, the nonprofit Long Beach Post, which expertly covered the port city while the Press-Telegram atrophied, laid off nearly everyone.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 16, 2024

Some time in the next few years, when the acrimony has atrophied, Pete Carroll and Russell Wilson will share a public hug on the Lumen Field turf and exchange genuine smiles.

From Seattle Times • Oct. 28, 2023

I never learned any prayers, so I wander away into the fields, beyond the gates and watchtowers, as far from the barracks and bodies as my atrophied muscles will carry me.

From "What the Night Sings" by Vesper Stamper

Related Words

• bony
• gaunt
• scrawny
• skeletal
• skinny