dwindle

[dwin-dl]

verb (used without object)

dwindled, dwindling 

1. to become smaller and smaller; shrink; waste away.

   His vast fortune has dwindled away.

   Synonyms: wane, lessen, decline, diminish
   Antonyms: increase

2. to fall away, as in quality; degenerate.

verb (used with object)

dwindled, dwindling 

1. to make smaller and smaller; cause to shrink.

   Failing health dwindles ambition.

   Synonyms: lessen
   Antonyms: magnify

dwindle

/ ˈdwɪndəl /

verb

1. to grow or cause to grow less in size, intensity, or number; diminish or shrink gradually

Other Word Forms

• undwindling adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of dwindle¹

1590–1600; dwine (now dial.) to waste away ( Middle English; Old English dwīnan; cognate with Middle Dutch dwīnen to languish, Old Norse dvīna to pine away) + -le

Word History and Origins

Origin of dwindle¹

C16: from Old English dwīnan to waste away; related to Old Norse dvīna to pine away

Synonym Study

See decrease.

Example Sentences

For example, if a child received a more expensive home, the share of liquid assets such as cash and stocks dwindled.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Like most of the countries where Christianity first took hold, wars and economic lethargy — not to mention a relatively easier path to emigration — have dwindled Lebanon’s Christian population over the decades.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Federal enthusiasm for such enforcement dwindled after that.

Read more on Salon

While a testament to their resilience, “off-grid” is a designation that many hope they can soon shed, especially as the hours of available solar charging dwindle and storms return to threaten their precarious slopes.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

The stocky build had dwindled to slimness, the thick silver hair tinted black, and the distinctive Ashton nose altered with putty, but those dark and penetrating eyes would be impossible to mistake.

Read more on Literature

Related Words

• abate 
• decay 
• decline 
• decrease 
• die down 
• diminish 
• drop 
• ebb 
• fade 
• fall 
• lessen 
• peter out 
• shrink 
• shrivel 
• sink 
• subside 
• wane 
• weaken 
• wither