enervate

Advancedzipf 1.26

Pronunciation

/ˈɛnəveɪt/(EN-uh-vayt)

Part of speech

verbformal

Chinese

使衰弱；使无力

Definition

To cause someone to feel drained of energy or vitality.

Word family

  • enervation/ˌɛnəˈveɪʃən/(n)衰弱
  • enervating/ˈɛnəveɪtɪŋ/(adj)使人精疲力竭的

Collocations

  • enervating heat
  • enervating effect
  • emotionally enervated
  • physically enervated

Examples

  1. 1.The tropical heat enervated the tourists, who could barely muster the energy to sightsee. (drained)
  2. 2.Months of political infighting had enervated the party's reform efforts. (weakened)

Synonyms

  • exhaust/ɪɡˈzɔːst/— tire out completely
  • debilitate/dɪˈbɪlɪteɪt/— weaken severely
  • sap/sæp/— gradually drain

Etymology

from Latin "enervare" — e- (out of) + nervus (sinew) — to remove the sinews, to weaken