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decrepitude

[ dih-krep-i-tood, -tyood ]

/ dɪˈkrɛp ɪˌtud, -ˌtyud /

SEE SYNONYMS FOR decrepitude

noun

decrepit condition; dilapidated state; feebleness, especially from old age.

QUIZZES

BECOME A PRO CHEF WITH THIS EXQUISITE CUISINE QUIZ!

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Question 1 of 9

You may have read the word "simmer" in a recipe or two, but what does it really mean?

To cook in water that begins cold and then reaches a boil.

To stew in a sauce for a long time.

To cook in water, just below boiling temperature.

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Origin of decrepitude

1595–1605; <French décrépitude, derivative of décrépitdecrepit; see -tude

Words nearby decrepitude

decrement, decremeter, decreolize, decrepit, decrepitate, decrepitude, decresc., decrescendo, decrescent, decretal, Decretals

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2020

Example sentences from the Web for decrepitude

Face it, we like our blues singers to show some signs of decrepitude.
Do Blues Musicians Need to be Really, Really Old?|Ted Gioia|September 22, 2013|DAILY BEAST
I speak not, of course, of the decrepitude of old age and of the decay of the faculties.
In the School-Room|John S. Hart
The old Commedia dell' Arte, as we have seen, had sunk into decrepitude.
The Memoirs of Count Carlo Gozzi; Volume the first|Count Carlo Gozzi
In passing from your threshold, I leave the curse, due to decrepitude, behind me.
The Continental Monthly, Vol 6, No 5, November 1864|Various

His body feeble and emaciated, his mind stripped of its distinguishing faculties, he rapidly sunk into decrepitude.
Lives of Eminent Zoologists, from Aristotle to Linnus|William MacGillivray
He seemed an image of decrepitude, a symbol of approaching death.
All Men are Ghosts|L. P. Jacks

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