Shrunken

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. Decreased in size and often related to loss of moisture or physical change
2. Made smaller and potentially less appealing, generally through drying or other forms of contraction
3. Having diminished in size or bulk usually because of drying out or compressing

Etymology: "Shrunken" is the past participle of "shrink", and a participle is a form of the verb that can also work as an adjective, which is how it is used here. The verb descends from Old English "sċrincan", and it has a close relative in Dutch, "schrinken", which means the same thing. Both trace back to a Germanic ancestor that carried the basic idea of drawing together or contracting, and the English form passed through Middle English "schrynken" before settling into the modern spelling. The word is also worth a look for a more colourful sense of its base verb. In modern slang, "shrink" is a clipping of "head-shrinker", a playful nickname for a psychologist or psychotherapist. The shortened form took off on its own, so the verb now has a meaning in everyday speech that has nothing to do with clothes or drying fruit.

Synonyms: diminished, contracted

Antonyms: expanded, enlarged