How to Use attenuate in a Sentence

attenuate

verb
  • Earplugs will attenuate the loud sounds of the machinery.
  • At some stage the influences that have pushed down yields will attenuate, even if this is not soon.
    — The Economist, 5 June 2019
  • If that’s the case, then hot and humid weather could attenuate the spread of the disease.
    — Roxanne Khamsi, Wired, 18 June 2020
  • This clever material, the team found, is able to attenuate all types of heat transfer.
    — Christopher McFadden, Interesting Engineering, 30 Aug. 2025
  • Earmuffs are ear cushions that sit over the ears and are made from a material that attenuates sounds.
    — Travis Smola, Field & Stream, 13 Mar. 2023
  • Eight segments were designed and modeled to attenuate waves and rebuild the beach.
    — Srishti Gupta, Interesting Engineering, 5 Aug. 2025
  • As order and corruption cease, much of the above issue will attenuate.
    — Kaitlyn Schallhorn, Oc Register, 4 May 2026
  • As the state gets hotter, more and more water will evaporate away from its canals, which the panels can help attenuate.
    — Matt Simon, Wired, 19 Mar. 2021
  • The design works by tracking how red, green, and blue light attenuate differently as the sensor bends.
    — Prabhat Ranjan Mishra, Interesting Engineering, 3 Apr. 2026
  • Among the naysayers, almost half point to the invasion of Ukraine and the attenuating death tolls.
    — Philip Elliott, Time, 28 July 2023
  • The new data suggests that while rebates have helped to rein in prescription drug spending, the effect will attenuate over the next decade.
    — Washington Post, 15 Feb. 2018
  • This creates a soft halo that attenuates the contrast between the light source and the surrounding darkness.
    — Catherine Anderson, Scientific American, 10 Mar. 2017
  • Koprowski’s lab, with Plotkin in it, was the first to manage to attenuate polio viruses for use in a vaccine.
    — Helen Branswell, STAT, 2 Mar. 2026
  • As shelters, like every other workplace, find their staff attenuated by the outbreak, the delays may grow longer.
    — Emma Grey Ellis, Wired, 10 Apr. 2020
  • As Science Alert points out, light also attenuates and degrades over long distances.
    — Chris Young, Interesting Engineering, 30 Sep. 2025
  • The expansive dash-to-axle distance continues the theme, attenuating with a lengthy door and a rather compact rear section.
    — Basem Wasef, Robb Report, 27 Sep. 2023
  • Once the swarm arrives, the best officials can do is deploy pesticides to attenuate the crop destruction.
    — Matt Simon, Wired, 16 Apr. 2020
  • Even tiny cracks in the weather-proofing around cables can allow water molecules to embed in the strands and attenuate the signal.
    — Rob Goodier, Popular Mechanics, 19 July 2018
  • Low-frequency sounds attenuate much more slowly than high-frequency sounds, like bird chirps, which travel only short distances.
    — Taylor L. MacHette, Scientific American, 4 Oct. 2020
  • When used outdoors, however, the signals can be attenuated by rain and other moisture in the atmosphere.
    — IEEE Spectrum, 6 June 2024
  • As the tiny particles of light travel through the network’s glass fibers, imperfections in the glass cause the light to attenuate after a certain distance.
    — Jeanne Whalen, Washington Post, 9 Oct. 2022
  • Daniel’s production honors this to a degree, but the ensemble casting attenuates the effect.
    — Charles McNulty, Los Angeles Times, 21 Mar. 2023
  • During these years, some vaccines used an inactive virus, which was not as effective as the current vaccine, which is a live, attenuated (weakened) type.
    — Tom Gavin, EverydayHealth.com, 3 Feb. 2026
  • The objective is to attenuate the body's response to new calorie restriction and/or exercise, and thereby even up the starting points.
    — David Prologo, Washington Post, 6 Jan. 2018
  • Radically attenuated, the visible weld and bolts are all that remain.
    — Gordon Hughes, Artforum, 1 Mar. 2026
  • This cocktail of hormones, Datillo adds, also helps attenuate the effects of cortisol (our stress hormone).
    — Diane Herbst, Peoplemag, 1 May 2023
  • All of which would be more than enough to occupy your attention even if the movie slowed its tempo, attenuated its gags or paused to give each actor more than a drolly robotic witticism or two.
    — Justin Chang, Los Angeles Times, 15 June 2023
  • The sound of the Tour Pro 2s is fairly neutral, with no frequencies overly boosted or attenuated.
    — Geoffrey Morrison, wsj.com, 31 Oct. 2023
  • But while the first four episodes were well-plotted and sure-footed — building up to episode five’s ambitious Alien remix — the final three have been relatively attenuated.
    — Noel Murray, Vulture, 24 Sep. 2025
  • So an intervention that targets senescent cells could attenuate other aging processes as well, according to the new paper.
    — Jacqueline Howard, CNN, 4 Sep. 2017

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'attenuate.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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