wither

[ with-er ]

/ ˈwɪð ər /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR wither ON THESAURUS.COM

verb (used without object)

to shrivel; fade; decay: The grapes had withered on the vine.

to lose the freshness of youth, as from age (often followed by away).

verb (used with object)

to make flaccid, shrunken, or dry, as from loss of moisture; cause to lose freshness, bloom, vigor, etc.: The drought withered the buds.

to affect harmfully: Reputations were withered by the scandal.

to abash, as by a scathing glance: a look that withered him.

Nearby words

withdrawing room, withdrawn, withdrew, withe, withe rod, wither, wither on the vine, witherite, withers, withershins, witherspoon

Origin of wither

1250–1300; Middle English, perhaps variant of weather (v.)

SYNONYMS FOR wither

1 wrinkle, shrink, dry, decline, languish, droop, waste. Wither, shrivel imply a shrinking, wilting, and wrinkling. Wither (of plants and flowers) is to dry up, shrink, wilt, fade, whether as a natural process or as the result of exposure to excessive heat or drought: Plants withered in the hot sun. Shrivel, used of thin, flat objects and substances, such as leaves, the skin, etc., means to curl, roll up, become wrinkled: The leaves shrivel in cold weather. Paper shrivels in fire.

5 humiliate, shame.

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR wither ON THESAURUS.COM

Related forms

with·ered·ness, nounwith·er·er, nounwith·er·ing·ly, adverbnon·with·er·ing, adjective

o·ver·with·ered, adjectiveun·with·ered, adjectiveun·with·er·ing, adjective

Can be confused

weather whether whither wither (see synonym study at the current entry)whither wither

Definition for wither (2 of 2)

Wither

[ with -er ]

/ ˈwɪð ər /

noun

George,1588–1667, English poet and pamphleteer.

Also With·ers

[with -erz] /ˈwɪð ərz/.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for wither

Why this reluctant partnership might be best left to wither.
John Kerry Just Visited. But Should We Just Forget About India?|Tunku Varadarajan|August 3, 2014|DAILY BEAST
But as time goes by, Chloe falls ill and begins to wither away.
Michel Gondry on ‘Mood Indigo,’ Kanye West, and the 10th Anniversary of ‘Eternal Sunshine’|Marlow Stern|July 20, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Will he, like Khal Drogo before him, wither away from an infected wound?
Game of Thrones’ ‘The Mountain and the Viper’ Recap: Trial by Combat and Inigo Montoya’s Revenge|Marlow Stern|June 2, 2014|DAILY BEAST
And second, the right-wing political class, operatives and people at think tanks, who want the welfare state to wither away.
Republicans and Entitlements|Michael Tomasky|March 1, 2013|DAILY BEAST

Yet when it comes to Palestinians under Israel's control, the humanistic approach to children's welfare tends to wither.
Dostoyevsky In The West Bank|Liza Rozovsky|January 31, 2013|DAILY BEAST
The brilliant sun of the tropics, burning mercilessly through the rarefied air, causes the scant vegetation to wither.
Inca Land|Hiram Bingham
Yes, certainly, but not because the poetic energy in him was a finer thing than the poetic energy that was in Wither.
The Lyric|John Drinkwater
Consider all the mean things and debasing tendencies that wither up a people in a state of slavery.
Principles of Freedom|Terence J. MacSwiney
You must be perfectly plain and frank with me, or our acquaintanceship will wither away.
The Captain's Toll-Gate|Frank R. Stockton
In New York, to be sure, he often brushed his wings against those flowerets that “bloom and wither in the blush of dawn.”
The Book of Khalid|Ameen Rihani

British Dictionary definitions for wither

wither

/ (ˈwɪðə) /

verb

(intr) (esp of a plant) to droop, wilt, or shrivel up

(intr often foll by away) to fade or wasteall hope withered away

(intr) to decay, decline, or disintegrate

(tr) to cause to wilt, fade, or lose vitality

(tr) to abash, esp with a scornful look

(tr) to harm or damage

Derived Forms

withered, adjectivewitherer, nounwithering, adjectivewitheringly, adverb

Word Origin for wither

C14: perhaps variant of weather (vb); related to German verwittern to decay

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012