emaciate

American  

[ih-mey-shee-eyt] / ɪˈmeɪ ʃiˌeɪt /

verb (used with object)

emaciated, emaciating

1. to make abnormally lean or thin by a gradual wasting away of flesh.

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emaciate British  

/ ɪˈmeɪsɪˌeɪt /

verb

1. (usually tr) to become or cause to become abnormally thin

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Other Word Forms

• emaciation
  noun

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."

Example Sentences

"Emaciate myself," protested Jeanne eagerly; "do you mean I'm taking on flesh?"

From Somewhere in France by Davis, Richard Harding

The ever wan morass, the dune, the blear Sandweed, and tepid pool, and putrid smell, Emaciate purpose to a fractious fear, Beckon the body to its last low cell— A chink no chart will tell.

From The Dynasts by Hardy, Thomas

Emaciate, e-mā′shi-āt, v.t. to make meagre or lean: to deprive of flesh: to waste.—v.i. to become lean: to waste away.—p.adjs.

From Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 2 of 4: E-M) by Various

Related Words

• blow
• consume
• deplete
• dissipate
• divert
• drain
• exhaust
• lavish
• lose
• misuse
• squander
• undermine