ETIOLATED: "made feeble; deprived of natural vigor"

By MsW
Superman was etiolated by kryptonite.

"Etiolated" is a verb that refers to the process of causing plants to become pale or whitened by depriving them of light, or metaphorically, to become weak and feeble due to lack of exposure or development.

Etymology: The word "etiolate" has its roots in the French word "étiole," which means "star" or "spindle." It was first used in English in the mid-18th century in the context of plants losing their color.

Sample Sentences:

  1. The plant etiolated in the dark corner of the room, desperate for sunlight.

  2. A lack of sunshine in your back yard might etiolate the roses you planted there.

  3. Continuous stress can etiolate one's mental and emotional well-being.

  4. The abandoned building's walls had an etiolated appearance, covered in dust and neglect.

  5. Without proper care, the once vibrant garden began to etiolate, and its flowers lost their brilliance.

Synonyms: pale, white, faded, bleached

Antonyms: strengthened, thriving











Merriam-Webster Online
The Word of the Day for May 27, 2008 is:
etiolate • \EE-tee-uh-layt\ • verb

*1 : to bleach and alter the natural development of (a green plant) by excluding sunlight

2 a : to make pale
b : to deprive of natural vigor : make feeble

Example Sentence:
The bean plants that Grace grew for her lab project became weak and etiolated when they were kept in a dark closet for a week.
Did you know?
When we first started using "etiolate" in the late 1700s (borrowed from the French verb "étioler"), it was in reference to purposely depriving growing celery of light. The word traces back to an Old French word for "straw" and is related to the Latin word for "straw" or "stalk," which is "stipula." Nowadays the term for growing veggies as pale as straw is now more likely to be "blanch," which can mean "to bleach (the leaves or stalks of plants) by earthing, boarding, or wrapping," among other things. "Etiolate" is more apt to refer to depriving plants in general of light; when "etiolated," they are sickly, pale, and spindly. The figurative sense of "etiolate" ("to make pallid or feeble") first appeared in the 1800s as a natural outgrowth of the original sense.

*Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence.

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