: acting or serving to cut down or destroy : devastating
a withering fire from the enemy
a withering rebuke
Examples of withering in a Sentence
The book has been the subject of withering criticism.
She gave me a withering look.
Recent Examples on the Web
Belly’s response is meant to come off sweet, but instead is both withering and accurate, because no 10-year-old should be that familiar with the myth of Sisyphus or the curse of endless toil.
—
Thomas Page, CNN Money, 18 Sep. 2025
But that pales in comparison to Windsor’s most withering appearance, in HBO’s poster for the 2021 documentary miniseries Allen v. Farrow (noted here by Cracked.com).
—Seth Abramovitch, HollywoodReporter, 29 Aug. 2025
But the ending of The Platform 2 extinguishes that hope in a rather withering way.
—A.a. Dowd, Vulture, 17 Oct. 2024
The show’s perspective on charter schools becomes all the more withering when Ava comes around to Barbara’s point of view.
—Jessica Winter, The New Yorker, 16 Mar. 2023
See All Example Sentences for withering
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Thomas Page, CNN Money, 18 Sep. 2025
But that pales in comparison to Windsor’s most withering appearance, in HBO’s poster for the 2021 documentary miniseries Allen v. Farrow (noted here by Cracked.com).
—Seth Abramovitch, HollywoodReporter, 29 Aug. 2025
But the ending of The Platform 2 extinguishes that hope in a rather withering way.
—A.a. Dowd, Vulture, 17 Oct. 2024
The show’s perspective on charter schools becomes all the more withering when Ava comes around to Barbara’s point of view.
—Jessica Winter, The New Yorker, 16 Mar. 2023
See All Example Sentences for withering
Cite this Entry
“Withering.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/withering. Accessed 20 Sep. 2025.
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