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atrophy

[a-truh-fee] / ˈæ trə fi /


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.

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In contrast, higher consumption of sweets was associated with faster ventricular enlargement and greater hippocampal atrophy.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 1, 2026

One reason employers are hesitant to hire those who have been out of the workforce for a prolonged period of time is that they believe skills atrophy.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 26, 2026

Regeneron has been developing a pipeline of muscle-preservation drugs that block the body’s natural atrophy systems.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 24, 2026

Human brains function on a pretty strict use-it-or-lose-it policy: When they’re not engaged, they start to atrophy.

From Salon ● Jun. 10, 2026

He massaged Shin’s arms and legs so that his muscles would not atrophy.

From "Escape from Camp 14: One Man's Remarkable Odyssey from North Korea to Freedom in the West" by Blaine Harden

Like any skill, it atrophies when we outsource the work.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 27, 2026

"When you get machines thinking for you, your brain just atrophies."

From BBC ● Jul. 10, 2025

As we age, our brain gradually atrophies, losing nerve cells and connections and this can lead to a decline in brain function.

From Science Daily ● Feb. 6, 2024

If astrophysicists don’t take big, new and different swings at dark matter, the search will only stagnate until it atrophies.

From Scientific American ● Apr. 5, 2023

Just as any organ atrophies unless kept in a state of constant activity, so the faculty of composition becomes enfeebled and dulled unless kept up by effort and practice.

From An Autobiography by Igor Stravinsky

“It’s like a muscle that maybe has atrophied a little bit over the years,” Gould said in his interview with the Journal.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 17, 2026

Any principles beyond those have atrophied into invisibility.

From Salon ● Apr. 20, 2025

Social skills and conversational ease have stiffened and atrophied.

From New York Times ● May 14, 2024

When followed over several years, the super-agers’ brains atrophied at a slower rate than average.

From Seattle Times ● Apr. 29, 2024

The hollow bolted around the bend, using its muscular tongues like legs, its atrophied human limbs hanging useless.

From "Hollow City" by Ransom Riggs

“My hunch is that we’re atrophying our brains,” says Wolkowitz, 38.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 30, 2026

After exhausting holistic options, he saw a doctor who said one of his vocal cords was atrophying.

From Seattle Times ● Apr. 23, 2024

"After two years, part of my brain was atrophying," one said.

From BBC ● Feb. 4, 2024

The work the body does against gravity to stay upright and move around keeps muscles from atrophying and stimulates bone growth.

From Scientific American ● Sep. 19, 2023

Over the weeks that followed he languished in the hospital, arms curled grotesquely at his sides, muscles atrophying, his weight dropping below 80 pounds.

From "Into Thin Air" by Jon Krakauer




Vocabulary lists containing atrophy


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