emaciate
Americanverb (used with object)
verb
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of emaciate
1640–50; < Latin ēmaciātus, wasted away, equivalent to ē- e- 1 + maciātus, past participle of maciāre to produce leanness ( maci ( ēs ) leanness + -ātus -ate 1 )
Explanation
To emaciate is to make someone extremely thin or very weak. A serious illness can often emaciate a person, leaving them gaunt and frail. The verb emaciate is much less common than its related adjective, emaciated. Both stem from the Latin emaciare, "make lean, cause to waste away." Whenever a person has become malnourished in a way that's evident just from looking at them, you can use this word: "The ravages of the Irish potato famine emaciated the starving people all across the country, eventually causing a million deaths."
Vocabulary lists containing emaciate
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:
Very hospitably they received the worn, emaciate, and ragged wanderers.
From The Adventures of the Chevalier De La Salle and His Companions, in Their Explorations of the Prairies, Forests, Lakes, and Rivers, of the New World, and Their Interviews with the Savage Tribes, Two Hundred Years Ago by John S. C. (John Stevens Cabot) Abbott
I cherished her reproach like physic-wine, For I saw in that emaciate shape of bitterness and bleakness A nobler soul than mine.
From Time's Laughingstocks and Other Verses by Thomas Hardy
But such a march as this, of woe-begone, emaciate, skeleton bands, is not to be counted as among war's pomps and glories.
From David Crockett His Life and Adventures by John S. C. (John Stevens Cabot) Abbott
Chisca, the chieftain, was far advanced in years, a feeble, emaciate old man of very diminutive stature.
From Ferdinand De Soto, The Discoverer of the Mississippi American Pioneers and Patriots by John S. C. (John Stevens Cabot) Abbott
If this best of men, Jaya, my sire, does not rise up, I shall emaciate my own body, sitting on the field of battle.
From The Mahabharata of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa, Volume 4 Books 13, 14, 15, 16, 17 and 18 by Kisari Mohan Ganguli
"It helped the story to see an emaciated body. With Reuben, I just wanted to feel the character in the body and feel physically imposing opposite Jamie."
From BBC ● Apr. 21, 2026
Foot-and-mouth causes fever and blisters near the hoof and in the mouth that prevent animals from feeding, as seen in the emaciated survivors.
From Barron's ● Mar. 13, 2026
The image was of two emaciated, impoverished South Asian children.
From BBC ● Feb. 2, 2026
“Many of the surviving horses were visibly emaciated and in poor health and would not have survived without intervention,” according to the release.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 22, 2026
A few weeks later George and Florah came down with a mysterious illness, which left them emaciated and lethargic, their stomachs so distended that I thought they would burst.
From "Kaffir Boy: An Autobiography" by Mark Mathabane
All those terrible yellow toxins, wizening his knees, slackening his tendons, emaciating his calves.
From The Guardian ● Apr. 1, 2011
That highly-blessed lady is always emaciating herself with the austerest of penances!
From The Mahabharata of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa, Volume 3 Books 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12 by Kisari Mohan Ganguli
The agitators proclaim that their number in Parliament has diminished, and that they have lost cities and counties, because the constituency has decreased under the "emaciating influence of the registration law."
From Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, Volume 56, Number 350, December 1844 by Various
A lipoma, or fatty tumor, in the subcutaneous tissue, may go on increasing to huge bulk while the body is steadily emaciating.
From Special Report on Diseases of Cattle by United States. Bureau of Animal Industry
That their plunge might stimulate Methuen to burn his boots and brave the turgid waters of the Modder, was the fervent wish of Kimberley at the end of fourteen weeks of irksome, emaciating duress.
From The Siege of Kimberley by T. Phelan
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