Wizen
adj, verb ·Moderate ·College level
Definitions
- 1 To wither; to become, or make, lean and wrinkled by shrinkage, as from age or illness. ambitransitive
"After wizening with cold for an hour, we ran down to the hut for breakfast, rejoicing in having brought with us some portable soup ; and after a second visit to the summit, started at eight, when the day seemed already far advanced, along with the Bleiberg party, for the descent."
- 1 Wizened; withered; lean and wrinkled by shrinkage as from age or illness.
"His face was wizen and wrinkled, his faded blue eyes dim and weak-looking. He was feeble, and his hands were tremulous with a perpetual nervous motion."
- 1 lean and wrinkled by shrinkage as from age or illness wordnet
Example
More examples"His face was wizen and wrinkled, his faded blue eyes dim and weak-looking. He was feeble, and his hands were tremulous with a perpetual nervous motion."
Etymology
Inherited from Middle English wisenen, from Old English wisnian, weosnian, from Proto-West Germanic *wisnōn, from Proto-Germanic *wisnōną, from Proto-Germanic *wesaną (“to consume”). Cognate with Icelandic visna, Gothic 𐍆𐍂𐌰𐍅𐌹𐍃𐌰𐌽 (frawisan, “to squander through feasting”).
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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.