Meaning
Of a person: emaciated, wasted, weakened; of the body or part of it: atrophied, shrunken, withered.
Etymology
Origin: Middle English
From Middle English extenuat (“(medicine) made thin, emaciated”), from Latin extenuātus (“diminished, reduced, thinned”), perfect passive participle of extenuō (“to diminish, reduce, thin”) (see -ate (adjective-forming suffix)), from ex- (“out-, thoroughly”) + tenuō (“to enfeeble, weaken, wear down; to lessen, reduce; to make thin”), from tenuis (“fine, slender, thin; feeble, weak”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *tenh₂- (“to extend, stretch; thin”)) + -ō (first conjugation-verb forming suffix). Compare attenuate.
Synonyms & Antonyms
Antonyms
aggravate
NYT Puzzle Appearances
Accepted in 2 recorded puzzles: