shrivel

[ shriv-uhl ]

verb (used with or without object)

, shriv·eled, shriv·el·ing or (especially British) shriv·elled, shriv·el·ling.

1. to contract and wrinkle, as from great heat, cold, or dryness.

   Synonyms: shrink

2. to wither; make or become helpless or useless.

shrivel

/ ˈʃrɪvəl /

verb

1. to make or become shrunken and withered
2. to lose or cause to lose vitality

Other Words From

• un·shriveled adjective
• un·shrivelled adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of shrivel¹

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”; scurf

Word History and Origins

Origin of shrivel¹

C16: probably of Scandinavian origin; compare Swedish dialect skryvla wrinkle

Synonym Study

See wither.

Example Sentences

Over time, the fruit will start to soften and shrivel, forming an elegantly craggy surface with deep grooves in the folded skin.

From Eater

To see, say, frost-shriveled red rose hips near a clump of giant snowdrops in December bloom is wonderful, but the sight also seems to signify winter’s altered state.

From Washington Post

Some females will take on multiple live-in boyfriends, with her body providing them nutrients as they shrivel into lazy sacks of sperm to fertilize her eggs.

From Popular-Science

As stores shuttered and revenue shriveled, it would have been easy for brands and media companies across the board to simply focus on keeping the doors open.

From Digiday

Delayed action will only allow more small businesses to shrivel and die, and our streets to therefore become less welcoming and safe.

From Voice of San Diego

Ours is the Caiman model, a 6x6 behemoth that weighs in at over 15 tons and makes Humvees shrivel up with feelings of inadequacy.

From The Daily Beast

And then you had the early feminists who were making their young husbands shrivel up because they could never do anything right.

From The Daily Beast

For some time, those contractors have faced the reality of a GOP increasingly willing to shrivel defense budgets.

From The Daily Beast

Presidential power, like a muscle, can strengthen if exercised effectively—or shrivel.

From The Daily Beast

However, if asked to bet whether right-wing apoplexy will grow or shrivel, the smart money obviously has to say the former.

From The Daily Beast

The man on the floor would shrivel up and say, "Oh, please don't, Bill; I hain't ever goin' to tell."

From Project Gutenberg

Or what is it wholly unsettlesThy sequence of shower and shine, And maketh thy pushings and petalsTo shrivel and pine?

From Project Gutenberg

They says his voice is like thunder, an' lightnin' shoots fr'm his eyes that wud shrivel th' likes iv ye an' me to a cinder.'

From Project Gutenberg

As soon as the fish are nearly ready for spawning, all their digestive parts shrivel up, so that they can't eat.

From Project Gutenberg

It looked as though the towns would shrivel up, because of the tremendously high wages demanded by the men who were needed there.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• dwindle
• shrink
• wilt
• wither