wither
To dry up, shrivel and die, like a plant without water.
wither in a sentence
- The roses withered in the vase, their petals curling and dropping one by one.
- With nobody to water them over the holidays, the classroom plants began to wither and shrivel.
Try an 11+ style question
Verbal reasoning papers often ask about a word like this.
Which word is closest in meaning to wither?
- Awilt
- Bgrow
- Csprout
- Dbloom
Show the answer
A: wilt. The other three mean the opposite of wither.
Which word is most nearly opposite in meaning to wither?
- Adroop
- Bwilt
- Cbloom
- Dshrivel
Show the answer
C: bloom. The other three mean nearly the same as wither.
Words that mean something similar
wilt, shrivel, droop
Words that mean the opposite
bloom, grow, sprout
More words about weather & nature
- zephyr: A soft, gentle breeze.
- adverse: Unhelpful or harmful; working against you.
- arid: Very dry, with almost no rain at all.
- atrocious: Extremely bad or unpleasant.
- bleak: Cold, empty and without much hope.
- conserve: To protect something from harm, or to save it from being wasted.
- cultivate: To grow plants, or to work at improving something.
- dreary: Dull, grey and boring.
More words to explore
Sitting the 11+ in Kent, Medway or Buckinghamshire?
Plain-English guides to each test, from the councils’ own pages: Kent Test · Medway Test · Bucks Secondary Transfer Test