- past participle of shrink.
shrunken
Americanverb
adjective
verb
adjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of shrunken
First recorded before 1000, for the adjective
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.
Satellite images examined by BBC Verify show shrunken glaciers, scorched areas left by wildfires, green fields turned arid and lower river levels.
From BBC ● Aug. 15, 2026
Outside, freshly laid parking lots sit mostly empty while a single, shrunken shift of workers comes and goes.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 1, 2026
Buffett liked the monopoly status of newspapers, which has been largely destroyed over the past 20 years, leaving the industry greatly shrunken and far less profitable.
From Barron's ● Feb. 17, 2026
The individual beans, which resemble shrunken dates due to their wrinkly dark exterior, can also be microplaned to create a fine powder, according to a guide from Great British Chefs.
From Salon ● Sep. 19, 2025
He was a tiny thing, wrinkled and hairless, shrunken beneath the weight of a hundred years so his maester's collar with its links of many metals hung loose about his throat.
From "A Game of Thrones" by George R.R. Martin
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.
