attenuated

American  

[uh-ten-yoo-ey-tid] / əˈtɛn yuˌeɪ tɪd /

adjective

1. weakened.

   My father had a somewhat attenuated relationship with his own family, as his childhood was quite traumatic.

2. thin; slender or fine.

   Images of the conjoined twins’ brains reveal an attenuated line stretching between the two organs, called a thalamic bridge.

3. Bacteriology, Immunology. (of a strain of disease-causing virus or bacterium) rendered less virulent.

   The attenuated poliovirus in the Sabin vaccine replicates very efficiently in the gut, but less so in the nervous system.

4. Electronics. (of an electronic signal) reduced in amplitude.

   Accuracy decreases in the case of reflected or attenuated signals—for example, inside buildings.

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verb

1. the simple past tense and past participle of attenuate.

Other Word Forms

• subattenuated
  adjective
• unattenuated
  adjective
• unattenuatedly
  adverb

Etymology

Origin of attenuated

attenuate ( def. ) + -ed ²

Explanation

Attenuated is an adjective that describes something that has faded or weakened. Attenuate is a verb that means something has been made thin or less, at which point it can be described as attenuated. A strong drink might be attenuated once water or ice has been poured into it. Similarly, the sound of your neighbor's party will become attenuated if you just shut your window and put in your ear plugs.

Example Sentences

Attenuated strains give varying protection, as measured in prison volunteers.

From Time Magazine Archive

Attenuated, pallid, sharp-featured, she appeared much older than her years, and the lovely, confiding and tender qualities of mind, which made her so attractive to older people, had given place to cold austerity and hypercriticism.

From A Woman of the World Her Counsel to Other People's Sons and Daughters by Wilcox, Ella Wheeler

Attenuated rivers still flow into the Great Basin, but are lost in their sands.

From The Book of the National Parks by Yard, Robert Sterling

Attenuated to the last degree, bent almost double, he looked as if he were in the last stage of exhaustion.

From 'Neath the Hoof of the Tartar The Scourge of God by J?sika, Mikl?s

Related Words

• extraordinary
• limited
• occasional
• scarce
• singular
• strange
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• unusual