enervating 1 of 2

adjective

as in exhausting

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enervating

2 of 2

verb

present participle of enervate
1
as in undermining
to deprive of emotional or intellectual vitality a lifetime of working in dreary jobs had enervated his very soul

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in weakening
to diminish the physical strength of the surgery really enervated me for weeks afterwards

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of enervating
Verb
This may reframe his friend’s enervating habit. — Hope Hunt, Baltimore Sun, 30 Jan. 2026 The results are often enervating though sometimes clumsy. — Eli Enis, Pitchfork, 3 Feb. 2026 Campbell, the North Carolina folk singer, describes an enervating process marked by back-and-forth exchanges and lots of waiting. — Jon Blistein, Rolling Stone, 25 Mar. 2026 Jenny deflected me with enervating ease. — Literary Hub, 13 Mar. 2026 Some of these values—such as a disciplined commitment to physical fitness—are good and, in my opinion, necessary correctives to the enervating distractions of 21st-century living. — Dan Brooks, The Atlantic, 2 Oct. 2025 Looming over all of it has been the sad, enervating situation with Alexander Isak, forever enshrined as a club legend by dint of Wembley last season but now beyond the point of tarnishing that legacy. — George Caulkin, New York Times, 10 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for enervating
  1. exhausting
  2. undermining
  3. weakening
  4. fatiguing
  5. draining
  6. softening
  7. debilitating
  8. deadening
Adjective
  • The first half of the day could feel mentally overwhelming or oddly exhausting.
    — Valerie Mesa, PEOPLE, 1 July 2026
  • The wines can show herbs without tasting aggressively grassy, ripe fruit without becoming a fruit cocktail and minerality without being exhausting to drink.
    — Devin Parr, Forbes.com, 30 June 2026
Definition of exhausting
Verb
  • Opposition parties and human rights organizations have accused Erdogan of undermining democracy and curbing freedom of expression.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 3 July 2026
  • Allies include Brin’s Building a Better California, which is bankrolling two counter-measures aimed at undermining the billionaire tax.
    — Ben Paviour July 2, Sacbee.com, 2 July 2026
Definition of undermining
Verb
  • Goldman Sachs predicts a sustained dollar weakening in 2026, driven by fiscal concerns and shifting global asset demand, marking a structural shift rather than a cyclical dip.
    — Jason Kirsch, Forbes.com, 2 July 2026
  • Ukrainian officials describe the strikes as a campaign to pressure Moscow to end the war by undermining its military logistics and supply lines and weakening its ability to mount assaults along the front.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 1 July 2026
Definition of weakening
Adjective
  • But the most mentally fatiguing aspect, the work found, was having to constantly supervise the AI tools, with some employees overseeing multiple AI agents performing different tasks at the same time.
    — Frank Landymore, Futurism, 12 Mar. 2026
  • My friend was in course of opening up his country house unassisted, and after a fatiguing day discovered that the only practical bed was a child’s affair— long enough but scarcely wider than a crib.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 3 Mar. 2026
Definition of fatiguing
Verb
  • The floor sink beneath the 3-comp sink was draining slowly and observed unclean.
    — Veronica Fernandez-Alvarado July 3, Sacbee.com, 3 July 2026
  • Their variety of runs and rotations are hard for any side to defend against, with the Spaniards slowly draining your physical and mental energy across the course of 90 minutes (or more).
    — Mark Carey, New York Times, 2 July 2026
Definition of draining
Verb
  • And that's especially critical this July with inflation surging again, wages softening and higher borrowing costs expected to remain unchanged for the foreseeable future.
    — Matt Richardson, CBS News, 30 June 2026
  • Most at-home versions last around one to four weeks, depending on hair type, product strength, and aftercare, with results gradually softening as the brow hairs return to their natural direction.
    — Lauren Jarvis-Gibson, Charlotte Observer, 30 June 2026
Definition of softening
Adjective
  • Their assets, systems and networks are considered so essential that their disruption would have a debilitating impact on national security, public safety or the economy.
    — Emil Sayegh, Forbes.com, 4 July 2026
  • The Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday approved a personalized T-cell therapy from Orca Bio, a private biotech company, that reduces the risk of a debilitating immune reaction in patients with blood cancers undergoing stem cell transplants.
    — Adam Feuerstein, STAT, 1 July 2026
Definition of debilitating
Verb
  • Sam Lambert laid down a safety squeeze, deadening the ball in front of the plate and scoring Balls to trim the lead to 3-1.
    — Dave Montrose, The Orlando Sentinel, 16 May 2026
  • Another suggestion was requiring special sound-deadening balls, currently available, that lower the decibel levels considerably.
    — John Ramos, CBS News, 16 Mar. 2026
Definition of deadening

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Cite this Entry

“Enervating.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/enervating. Accessed 7 Jul. 2026.

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Nglish: Translation of enervating for Spanish Speakers

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