Enervated

Part of speech: adjective

Pronunciation: /ˈɛnɝveɪtəd/

Definitions

1. Having lost energy and feeling weak or exhausted
2. Experiencing a significant reduction in strength or vigor
3. Being drained of physical or mental energy, leaving one feeble

Etymology: Enervated comes from the Latin verb "enervare," built from "e-" (out of, away) and "nervus," meaning sinew or nerve. The original image was physical: to be enervated was to have one's sinews drawn out, leaving the body limp and weak. English writers took the word on from that concrete sense of losing strength, and the modern meaning of being drained of energy grew directly from it. The Latin root "nervus" is also behind the English word "nerve," which in Latin meant a tendon or sinew before it came to mean the fibres that carry signals through the body. So "enervated" and "nerve" share a common ancestor even though their senses have drifted far apart. Enervated is a classic example of a word that keeps its anatomy in its ancestry: the person it describes has lost the cords that once made them strong.

Synonyms: exhausted, fatigued, weary

Antonyms: energized, invigorated