Thesaurus.com
Dictionary.com
Showing results for atrophy. Search instead for pathophy.
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.

See Examples For:

That limitation has made it much harder to study serious diseases involving the brain stem, including spinal muscular atrophy and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 21, 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

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

Apitegromab works by blocking a protein involved in the breakdown of muscle and is also being explored as a treatment for other medical conditions affecting muscles, including spinal muscular atrophy.

From BBC ● Jun. 8, 2026

When parts of the body aren’t used, they tend to weaken, or shrink, or atrophy.

From "Flying to the Moon: An Astronaut's Story" by Michael Collins

Despite massive vocal opposition, cognitive offloading is addictive, and our capacity for deep work atrophies with every use.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 26, 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

The only form of human love that atrophies the heart is the love of self.

From The Lowest Rung Together with The Hand on the Latch, St. Luke's Summer and The Understudy by Mary Cholmondeley

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

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

But polio had left Ali with a twisted, atrophied right leg that was sallow skin over bone with lit­tle in between except a paper-thin layer of muscle.

From "The Kite Runner" by Khaled Hosseini

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


Vocabulary.com logo
by dictionary.com

Dictionary.com's Learning Companion

Go beyond just looking up words.
Remember them forever with VocabTrainer.

Start training