as in exhausting
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1
as in undermining
to deprive of emotional or intellectual vitality
a lifetime of working in dreary jobs had enervated his very soul
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in weakening
to diminish the physical strength of
the surgery really enervated me for weeks afterwards
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of enervating
Jon Blistein, Rolling Stone, 25 Mar. 2026
Jenny deflected me with enervating ease.
—Literary Hub, 13 Mar. 2026
The results are often enervating though sometimes clumsy.
—Eli Enis, Pitchfork, 3 Feb. 2026
This may reframe his friend’s enervating habit.
—Hope Hunt, Baltimore Sun, 30 Jan. 2026
Some of these values—such as a disciplined commitment to physical fitness—are good and, in my opinion, necessary correctives to the enervating distractions of 21st-century living.
—Dan Brooks, The Atlantic, 2 Oct. 2025
Looming over all of it has been the sad, enervating situation with Alexander Isak, forever enshrined as a club legend by dint of Wembley last season but now beyond the point of tarnishing that legacy.
—George Caulkin, New York Times, 10 Aug. 2025
Verb
Campbell, the North Carolina folk singer, describes an enervating process marked by back-and-forth exchanges and lots of waiting.
—Jon Blistein, Rolling Stone, 25 Mar. 2026
Jenny deflected me with enervating ease.
—Literary Hub, 13 Mar. 2026
The results are often enervating though sometimes clumsy.
—Eli Enis, Pitchfork, 3 Feb. 2026
This may reframe his friend’s enervating habit.
—Hope Hunt, Baltimore Sun, 30 Jan. 2026
Some of these values—such as a disciplined commitment to physical fitness—are good and, in my opinion, necessary correctives to the enervating distractions of 21st-century living.
—Dan Brooks, The Atlantic, 2 Oct. 2025
Looming over all of it has been the sad, enervating situation with Alexander Isak, forever enshrined as a club legend by dint of Wembley last season but now beyond the point of tarnishing that legacy.
—George Caulkin, New York Times, 10 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for enervating
Adjective
-
The person walking between those two rooms is doing the quiet, exhausting work of keeping both versions of themselves coherent.—
Vibhas Ratanjee,
Forbes.com,
14 June 2026
-
But the melancholy pop soundtrack (Gracie Abrams, Lana del Rey, Noah Cyrus) and many, many longing gazes suggest we’re meant to find all of this terribly moving, rather than exhausting.—
Angie Han,
HollywoodReporter,
9 June 2026
Verb
-
Wembanyama now risks undermining much of that newfound goodwill.—
Bobby Burack OutKick,
FOXNews.com,
12 June 2026
-
Roboticists have long sought a compact, energy-efficient pumping technology that can be fully integrated into soft robotic systems without undermining the flexibility and adaptability that make soft robotics attractive in the first place.—
New Atlas,
New Atlas,
12 June 2026
Verb
-
Yet the extremist group has mobilized its members and media outlets to ramp up criticism of the agreement, heaping pressure on Iranian negotiators who have been attempting to extract concessions from a US administration intent on weakening – and possibly ending – the Islamic Republic.—
Tim Lister,
CNN Money,
14 June 2026
-
After reaching record levels in the 1990s and 2000s, deforestation declined until the 2019-2022 term of then President Jair Bolsonaro, whose government was widely criticized for weakening environmental protections.—
Gabriela Sa Pessoa,
Fortune,
12 June 2026
Adjective
-
But the most mentally fatiguing aspect, the work found, was having to constantly supervise the AI tools, with some employees overseeing multiple AI agents performing different tasks at the same time.—
Frank Landymore,
Futurism,
12 Mar. 2026
-
My friend was in course of opening up his country house unassisted, and after a fatiguing day discovered that the only practical bed was a child’s affair— long enough but scarcely wider than a crib.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
3 Mar. 2026
Verb
-
In a press release, the USDA urged pet and livestock owners to check their animals for draining or enlarging wounds, maggots or egg masses, signs of discomfort and lesions in body openings, such as the nose, ears, genitalia, and umbilical area.—
Gina Kalsi,
PEOPLE,
9 June 2026
-
Plant your plum in a sunny location with well-draining soil, and provide occasional watering when the soil is dry.—
SJ McShane,
Martha Stewart,
9 June 2026
Verb
-
Hilton cut his teeth in his native UK working in Conservative Party politics, where he was credited with softening the party’s image on issues like the environment.—
Ben Paviour,
Sacbee.com,
9 June 2026
-
Adding a small amount of baking soda during soaking or cooking may help reduce gas by breaking down some of these compounds and softening the beans.—
Kathleen Ferraro,
Verywell Health,
8 June 2026
Adjective
-
Such a statistic often provokes a familiar gamut of responses from those who read it, from shock, disgust and anger to a debilitating sense of helplessness.—
Megan Feringa,
New York Times,
3 June 2026
-
In the third, and most debilitating, patients withdraw from the world.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
28 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
Sam Lambert laid down a safety squeeze, deadening the ball in front of the plate and scoring Balls to trim the lead to 3-1.—
Dave Montrose,
The Orlando Sentinel,
16 May 2026
-
Another suggestion was requiring special sound-deadening balls, currently available, that lower the decibel levels considerably.—
John Ramos,
CBS News,
16 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Enervating.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/enervating. Accessed 16 Jun. 2026.
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