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Definitions

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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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

"We found there was less brain atrophy and less tau accumulation, which was very exciting to see."

From Science Daily Jul. 20, 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

The psyche can be bombarded only so much by these rhythms before it begins to crumble and atrophy.

From "A Confederacy of Dunces" by John Kennedy Toole

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

Genuflexion before the idol or the dollar atrophies the muscle which walks and the will which moves.

From Morals and Dogma of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry by Albert Pike

John’s left arm had atrophied, his hand now basically a claw, and two of his fingers were numb.

From Los Angeles Times Aug. 16, 2026

This misperception carries profound consequences and is currently rippling through our world, eroding trust, deepening isolation and creating a social environment in which empathy is swiftly becoming an atrophied muscle in desperate need of exercise.

From Salon Jul. 30, 2026

When we met him, he meandered across the field, atrophied by lack of exercise, sat on my foot and looked up with a hopeful demeanor.

From The Wall Street Journal Jan. 14, 2026

Social skills and conversational ease have stiffened and atrophied.

From New York Times May 14, 2024

“Like any other appendage,” the captain tells me, “it has atrophied from lack of use.”

From "Challenger Deep" by Neal Shusterman

But the Mayor’s Fund had been atrophying for years, with its donations shrinking to a fraction of what it raised under Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

From The Wall Street Journal Aug. 14, 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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