shrivel
Americanverb (used with or without object)
-
to contract and wrinkle, as from great heat, cold, or dryness.
- Synonyms:
- shrink
-
to wither; make or become helpless or useless.
verb
-
to make or become shrunken and withered
-
to lose or cause to lose vitality
Synonym Usage
See wither.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
shrivelsimple
-
shrivelssimple
-
have shriveledperfect
-
have shrivelledperfect
-
has shriveledperfect
-
has shrivelledperfect
-
am shrivelingprogressive
-
am shrivellingprogressive
-
are shrivelingprogressive
-
are shrivellingprogressive
-
is shrivelingprogressive
-
is shrivellingprogressive
-
have been shrivelingperfect progressive
-
have been shrivellingperfect progressive
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has been shrivelingperfect progressive
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has been shrivellingperfect progressive
Past
-
shriveledsimple
-
shrivelledsimple
-
had shriveledperfect
-
had shrivelledperfect
-
was shrivelingprogressive
-
was shrivellingprogressive
-
were shrivelingprogressive
-
were shrivellingprogressive
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had been shrivelingperfect progressive
-
had been shrivellingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of shrivel
First recorded in 1595–1605; akin to Swedish skroflig “uneven, rough” (perhaps originally “wrinkled, shrunken”), dialectal Swedish skryvla “to wrinkle,” Old English sceorfan “to roughen”; see scurf
Explanation
When things shrivel, they wrinkle up and get smaller, the way leaves begin to shrivel and turn brown in the fall. A lack of moisture can cause something to shrivel, and in humans it tends to be the natural process of aging that makes people shrivel a bit. Flowers will shrivel if you forget to water them, and grapes will eventually shrivel into raisins if you dry them out long enough. The root of shrivel is uncertain, but it may have a Scandinavian source and be related to the Swedish word skryvla, "to wrinkle."
Vocabulary lists containing shrivel
Seedfolks
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Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
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"The Jacket"
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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:
More frequently, his crops shrivel before they can be harvested.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 7, 2026
He starts the film at a speed-dating event where, in a great montage, he disappoints a procession of dewy singletons who shrivel up when this hunk comes across as cold and rude.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 24, 2025
Only a few short weeks after we carried the luscious green plant into our new home, its protruding branches and leaves started to shrivel.
From Slate ● Nov. 13, 2024
"I thought I was going to shrivel away to nothing," Balsamico told Grist.
From Salon ● Jul. 15, 2024
At some point the balloon would shrivel and wither, getting smaller and smaller, and then eventually disappear as a point—the singularity at the beginning of time and space.
From "Zero: The Biography of a Dangerous Idea" by Charles Seife
As the process unfolds, the cell's nucleus, which contains its genetic material, gradually shrivels before ultimately breaking apart.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 5, 2026
That’s because dehydration shrivels and distorts tissues, but frozen organs mostly keep their shape.
From National Geographic ● Aug. 7, 2023
Without it, the country shrivels to a landlocked rump state.
From New York Times ● Aug. 19, 2022
As the Iranian currency, the rial, shrivels in value and people watch their incomes diminish with surging prices, strikes over salary disputes among bus drivers and teachers have also gained traction across the country.
From Seattle Times ● May 23, 2022
The fruits swell and burst crimson and the tree shrivels and dies.
From "Dreaming in Cuban" by Cristina García
San Juan's once-sparkling rivers have shriveled due to drought, and residents in the rugged, western Argentine province fear that prospective mining projects in the Andes will make matters worse.
From Barron's ● Jun. 15, 2026
A survey of hundreds of Barclays online brokerage clients during the 2008-09 financial crisis found that their willingness to take risk shriveled as the stock market crashed.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 17, 2026
But in recent months the pool of recruits at the Los Angeles Police Department has shriveled to the point of running dry.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 12, 2025
We, on the other hand, will be long gone by then, shriveled by some far more minor cataclysm like the fragile little primates we are.
From Salon ● Feb. 25, 2025
We all step unevenly over shriveled branches, fallen logs.
From "Paradise on Fire" by Jewell Parker Rhodes
"A healthy plant would have 70 to 80 grains. This one will produce 10," she said, pointing to one shrivelled shoot.
From Barron's ● Jul. 4, 2026
Turnout in local elections that do not coincide with a general election are almost always shrivelled.
From BBC ● Apr. 29, 2025
Following consecutive seasons of poor rains, rivers and water pans have dried up and grasslands have shrivelled up in the game reserves.
From BBC ● Nov. 1, 2022
Exports - a key source of revenue for Koblevo and other big wineries - have shrivelled due to the blockade of Ukraine's Black Sea ports.
From Reuters ● Sep. 6, 2022
The sullen shrivelled leaves of a past year hung on them, grating and rattling in the sad airs, but their maggot-ridden buds were only just opening.
From "The Return of the King" by J.R.R. Tolkien
By diversifying its exposure across many autocallables and a range of maturity dates, an ETF can mitigate most of the risks of shrinking income or shriveling principal.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 1, 2026
But the oversized airport was a bleak metaphor for a city that was once more bustling and then got let down—first by the shriveling of the steel business, then by USAir itself.
From Slate ● Nov. 24, 2025
EMU’s Rynearson Stadium — capacity 30,200 — sits less than six miles from the University of Michigan, shriveling in The Big House’s massive shadow.
From Seattle Times ● Aug. 18, 2023
Depression and other mental health problems can act like weed killer, shriveling these connections and making it harder to function cognitively.
From Salon ● Feb. 20, 2023
No more shriveling looks of disapproval, at least not tonight.
From "You Bring the Distant Near" by Mitali Perkins
It was condemned by international rights groups as a symbol of Hong Kong's shrivelling press freedoms.
From Barron's ● Feb. 9, 2026
They say investment in the North Sea is shrivelling fast, with knock-on effects in refinery and chemical plant closures.
From BBC ● Nov. 23, 2025
While the bank had been preparing markets for a further stimulus cut at its March 10 meeting, rate hike bets are shrivelling.
From Reuters ● Mar. 1, 2022
He blamed the sunny, dry spring shrivelling up their clover food plant.
From The Guardian ● Oct. 13, 2020
Her body curled too; as the weeks turned to months, she shrank into herself like the stiffest of fetuses, shrivelling, her skin sallow and waxy.
From "Typical American" by Gish Jen
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
