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Definitions

atrophy

[a-truh-fee] / ˈæ trə fi /


Example Sentences

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Yet if human folly predates the decline of reading, the atrophy of this splendid activity is no less lamentable.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 7, 2026

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

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

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

The social spirit is not cultivated,—in fact, in so far as the purely individualistic method gets in its work, it atrophies for lack of use.

From Moral Principles in Education by John Dewey

Global trade boomed and the U.S. economy led the growth, even as U.S. shipbuilding atrophied and the Navy dropped from 7,000 ships at the close of World War II to around 300 today.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 11, 2026

The pandemic, for all its lessons, quietly atrophied some of our neighboring muscles, and many of us are still figuring out how to use them again.

From Salon ● Jan. 19, 2026

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 cells in your systems have atrophied and are dead,” she said sharply.

From "In the Time of the Butterflies" by Julia Alvarez

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

On Tuesday, the company’s founder and financial lifeline, the eBay billionaire Jeff Skoll, pulled the plug — a decision based, at least in part, on the atrophying entertainment business.

From New York Times ● Apr. 16, 2024

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

From BBC ● Feb. 4, 2024

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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