atrophy
/ˈæt.ɹə.fi/
More pronunciations (1)Fewer pronunciations
New Zealand/ˈɛt.ɹə.fi/
atrophy noun: a reduction in the functionality of an organ caused by disease, injury or lack of use.
Noun
atrophy (countable and uncountable, plural atrophies)
- A reduction in the functionality of an organ caused by disease, injury or lack of use.
- Now that chatbots are going the way of Google—moving from the miraculous to the taken-for-granted—the anxiety has shifted, too, from apocalypse to atrophy. Teachers, especially, say they’re beginning to see the rot. The term for it is unlovely but not inapt: de-skilling.2025 October 26, Kwame Anthony Appiah, “The Age of De-Skilling”, in The Atlantic
Verb
atrophy (third-person singular simple present atrophies, present participle atrophying, simple past and past participle atrophied)
- To wither or waste away.
- Boy. I love summer vacation. I can feel my brain beginning to atrophy already.1987 June 13, Bill Watterson, Calvin & Hobbes (comic)
- The M10 highway looks normal enough at the southern limits of St. Petersburg, but then, with a jolt, it begins to atrophy. For the next 430 miles the surface of the highway, while paved, varies from corduroy to jaw-rattling patchwork.2013 October 13, Ellen Barry, “The Russia Left Behind: A journey through a heartland on the slow road to ruin”, in The New York Times
- To cause to waste away or become abortive; to starve or weaken.
- Cold silence has a tendency to atrophy any sense of compassion2001, “Schism” (04:35-05:10 from the start), in Lateralus, performed by Tool
atrophy meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu
atrophy in Hindi
- एट्रोफिंग, एट्रोफाइंग
atrophy in Tamil
- திசு மெலிவு, திசுத்திறன் இழப்பு, நலிவு, செயல்திறன் இழப்பு, தய்வு, அங்கச் செயலிழப்பு
atrophy in Marathi
- अॅट्रोफिंग, ऍट्रोफिंग, एट्रोफिंग
atrophy in Urdu
- ایٹروفی, ایٹروفائی, ایٹروفائنگ
More languagesFewer languages
- atrophy in Bengali
- অ্যাট্রোফি, অ্যাট্রোফিং, অ্যাট্রোফাইং
- atrophy in Telugu
- అట్రోఫింగ్, అట్రోఫైయింగ్
- atrophy in Malayalam
- ക്ഷീണിക്കുക, മെലിഞ്ഞുനശിക്കുക, ക്ഷയിച്ചുനശിക്കുക, ചടയ്ക്കുക
- atrophy in Kannada
- ಮಯ್ಸವೆತ
- atrophy in Punjabi
- ਐਟ੍ਰੋਫੀ, ਐਟ੍ਰੋਫ਼ੀ, ਐਟਰੌਫੀ
- atrophy in Gujarati
- એટ્રોફી, એટ્રોફીંગ, એટ્રોફિંગ
- atrophy in Odia
- ଆଟ୍ରୋଫି, ଆଟ୍ରୋଫିଙ୍ଗ, ଆଟ୍ରୋଫିଙ୍ଗ୍
- atrophy in Nepali
- एट्रोफी, एट्रोफि, एट्रोफिङ
- atrophy in Arabic
- ضُمُور ḍumūr, تَلَاشٍ talāšin, ضَمُرَ ḍamura, تَلَاشَى talāšā
- atrophy in Indonesian
- atrofi
Examples of atrophy in a sentence
- Brain scans were graded on a five-point scale of atrophy.
- Mild vermian volume loss and progressive chiasmatic atrophy (open arrow) are seen (B) on follow-up.
- Porphyria and Kindler syndrome were excluded by lack of photosensitivity, scarring, atrophy, and sclerodermoid changes.
Antonyms of atrophy
Forms of atrophy
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | atrophies |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | atrophies |
| present participle | atrophying |
| past participle | atrophied |
| past | atrophied |
Origin of atrophy
Borrowed from French atrophie, from Latin atrophia, from Ancient Greek ἀτροφία (atrophía, “a wasting away”), from ἄτροφος (átrophos, “ill-fed, un-nourished”), from ἀ- (a-, “not”) + τροφή (trophḗ, “nourishment”), from τρέφω (tréphō, “to fatten”). Equivalent to a- + -trophy.
Words formed from atrophy
Questions about atrophy
- What does atrophy mean?
- Atrophy means a reduction in the functionality of an organ caused by disease, injury or lack of use.
- What is atrophy in Hindi?
- Atrophy in Hindi is एट्रोफिंग, एट्रोफाइंग. See Atrophy meaning in Hindi.
- What part of speech is atrophy?
- Atrophy can be a noun or a verb.
- How do you pronounce atrophy?
- Atrophy is pronounced /ˈæt.ɹə.fi/ (UK).
- What is the plural of atrophy?
- The plural of atrophy is atrophies.
Words near atrophy in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: atrophy (page history and authors); atrophy (Hindi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); atrophy (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); atrophy (Marathi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); atrophy (Urdu, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); atrophy (Bengali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); atrophy (Telugu, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); atrophy (Olam, E.K. Kurup corpus) (dataset and license); atrophy (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors); atrophy (Punjabi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); atrophy (Gujarati, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); atrophy (Odia, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); atrophy (Nepali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-atrophy.wav.
Cite this entry: “atrophy.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/atrophy. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.