Word of the Day

Friday, September 10, 2004

wizened

\WIZ-und\ , adjective;

Dried; shriveled; withered; shrunken; as, "a wizened old man."

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Quotes:

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

Origin:

Wizened is the past participle of wizen, "to wither, to dry," from the Old English wisnian.