Word of the Day Archive
Wednesday November 29, 2000
wizened \WIZ-und\ , adjective:
Dried; shriveled; withered; shrunken; as, "a wizened old man."
Her eyes were clear and shining, full of love, and set deeply in the creases of her wizened face.
-- Catherine Whitney, The Calling
At five foot six, 130 pounds, Erdos had the wizened, cadaverous look of a drug addict, but friends insist he was frail and gaunt long before he started taking amphetamines.
-- Paul Hoffman, The Man Who Loved Only Numbers
A thorny bramble bearing wizened leaves grew with the bittersweet in a crevice that ran downhill from the duo of trees.
-- Mary Parker Buckles, Margins: A Naturalist Meets Long Island Sound
Wizened is the past participle of wizen, "to wither, to dry," from the Old English wisnian.
Dictionary.com Entry and Pronunciation for wizened
