Meanings
present singular third person shrivels · US participle present shriveling · UK participle present shrivelling · US participle past shriveled · US past shriveled · UK participle past shrivelled · UK past shrivelled
- intransitiveTo collapse inward; to crumble.
The plant shrivelled from lack of water.
1 more example
This Upside Down economy was the product, Hansen said, of a shriveling population, the closing of the frontier and the maturing of industries.
2019 August 13, Greg Rosalsky, “Is Our Economy In The Upside Down?”, in NPR, archived from the original on 01 Feb 2020 - transitiveTo draw into wrinkles.
The hot sun shrivelled the leaves.
Synonyms & antonyms
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Proto-Germanic*skrinkwaną“to shrivel, shrink”
- Englishshrivel
First recorded as shriveled (“shrivelled”), probably of North Germanic origin related to dialectal Swedish skryvla (“to wrinkle, shrivel”); perhaps ultimately related to Proto-Germanic *skrinkwaną (“to shrivel, shrink”) or *skrimpaną (“to shrink”).
More words from Proto-Germanic
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Bulgarian изсъхвам, сбръчквам се
- изсъхвам (izsăhvam)collapse inward
- сбръчквам се (sbrăčkvam se)become wrinkled
Catalan marcir-se, assecar-se
- marcir-secollapse inward
- assecar-secollapse inward
- arrugar-sebecome wrinkled
- arrugardraw into wrinkles
Chinese Mandarin 向內捲曲 /向内卷曲, 起皺 /起皱
- 向內捲曲 /向内卷曲collapse inward
- 起皺 /起皱 (qǐzhòu)become wrinkled
- 弄皺 /弄皱 (nòngzhòu)draw into wrinkles
Czech scvrknout se, zhroutit se
- scvrknout secollapse inward
- zhroutit secollapse inward
- svraštit sebecome wrinkled
Dutch verschrompelen
- verschrompelencollapse inward
Finnish romahtaa, kurtistua
- romahtaacollapse inward
- kurtistuabecome wrinkled
French se flétrir, se rider
- se flétrircollapse inward
- se riderbecome wrinkled
- riderdraw into wrinkles
German schrumpeln, verschrumpeln
- schrumpelnbecome wrinkled
- verschrumpelnbecome wrinkled
Italian afflosciarsi, avvizzire
- afflosciarsicollapse inward
- avvizzirecollapse inward
- raggrinzirebecome wrinkled
- corrugarsibecome wrinkled
Latin marceō
- marceōcollapse inward
Māori tingongo, menge
- tingongocollapse inward
- mengecollapse inward
- memengecollapse inward
- whakatārehebecome wrinkled
Persian ترنجیدن
- ترنجیدن (toronjidan)become wrinkled
Portuguese murchar, enrugar
- murcharcollapse inward
- enrugarbecome wrinkled
- enrugardraw into wrinkles
Spanish arrugarse, arrugarse
- arrugarsecollapse inward
- arrugarsebecome wrinkled
- arrugardraw into wrinkles
- enrugardraw into wrinkles
Swedish krympa, sjunka ihop
- krympacollapse inward
- sjunka ihopcollapse inward
- skrumpnabecome wrinkled
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with shrivel
All rhymes →Cite this entry
shrivel. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/shrivel
“shrivel.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/shrivel. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “shrivel,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/shrivel.
Source: shrivel on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.