as in weakening
to diminish the physical strength of
weeks of hard work had sapped her and left her exhausted
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in draining
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of sapping
Alexandra Schwartz, New Yorker, 25 Aug. 2025
However, these decisions shouldn’t be sapping you of your energy altogether.
—Mark Travers, Forbes.com, 20 Aug. 2025
The film charts Stone’s tragic descent into severe drug addiction, sapping the creativity that had astonished the world.
—Matthew Carey, Deadline, 20 Aug. 2025
That gridlock is sapping a powerhouse central to the nation’s prosperity.
—Shawn Tully, Fortune, 16 Aug. 2025
And if Alabama cancels marquee matchups, other SEC schools will assuredly follow — potentially sapping the sport of must-see intersectional duels that energize the September competition calendar.
—Jon Wilner, The Mercury News, 8 Dec. 2024
The setbacks certainly had a way of sapping a team’s spirit.
—Ryan Kartje, Los Angeles Times, 24 Nov. 2024
If so, the mania described by Chow might result in abundant information and even progress, but not progress of the kind that protects the wealth of producers the world over from the theft that is inflation, and the economy-sapping uncertainty that is currency volatility.
—John Tamny, Forbes, 17 Oct. 2024
Declining consumer confidence is sapping demand for combustion-engine cars.
—Stefan Nicola, Fortune Europe, 30 Sep. 2024
Adjective
If the experience of illness is inevitably one of sapping solipsism, caretaking is its life-giving corollary.
—Alexandra Schwartz, New Yorker, 25 Aug. 2025
However, these decisions shouldn’t be sapping you of your energy altogether.
—Mark Travers, Forbes.com, 20 Aug. 2025
The film charts Stone’s tragic descent into severe drug addiction, sapping the creativity that had astonished the world.
—Matthew Carey, Deadline, 20 Aug. 2025
That gridlock is sapping a powerhouse central to the nation’s prosperity.
—Shawn Tully, Fortune, 16 Aug. 2025
And if Alabama cancels marquee matchups, other SEC schools will assuredly follow — potentially sapping the sport of must-see intersectional duels that energize the September competition calendar.
—Jon Wilner, The Mercury News, 8 Dec. 2024
The setbacks certainly had a way of sapping a team’s spirit.
—Ryan Kartje, Los Angeles Times, 24 Nov. 2024
If so, the mania described by Chow might result in abundant information and even progress, but not progress of the kind that protects the wealth of producers the world over from the theft that is inflation, and the economy-sapping uncertainty that is currency volatility.
—John Tamny, Forbes, 17 Oct. 2024
Declining consumer confidence is sapping demand for combustion-engine cars.
—Stefan Nicola, Fortune Europe, 30 Sep. 2024
Recent Examples of Synonyms for sapping
Verb
-
America’s retreat from WHO deepens the damage by weakening global systems for monitoring outbreaks, reviewing evidence and maintaining databases such as the Global Burden of Disease.—
Stan Chu Ilo,
Chicago Tribune,
3 Sep. 2025
-
That underscored rising concerns of weakening in the labor market, a trend that has shown up in anecdotal evidence for several months.—
Alex Harring,
CNBC,
3 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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By aligning strategic work with those rhythms, productivity can feel more natural and less draining.—
Matthew Kayser,
USA Today,
28 Aug. 2025
Verb
-
Serving as a throughline for this 40mm model’s development are Genta’s signature, which led to the idea of his signature octagonal shape softening into the sensual curves of a cushion, leaving the ambiguity of a shape that appears round at first glance.—
Lily Templeton,
Footwear News,
4 Sep. 2025
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On one hand, the job market is softening, and there’s political pressure from the president to slash rates aggressively to 1%.—
Frank Holmes,
Forbes.com,
2 Sep. 2025
Adjective
-
Couture, 36, officially ended his NHL playing career in April, unable to completely get past his own debilitating injury that robbed him of a chance to leave the sport on his own terms.—
Curtis Pashelka,
Mercury News,
5 Sep. 2025
-
Fortunately, the resemblance to a police state has not been totally debilitating.—
Clarence Page,
Chicago Tribune,
24 Aug. 2025
Verb
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And the work continues off planet as well; astronauts living on the ISS exercise hard every day to stave off the bone loss and muscle wasting that long stays in microgravity induce.—
Mike Wall,
Space.com,
3 Sep. 2025
-
New rules To reduce time-wasting, goalkeepers will concede a corner for holding on to the ball for more than eight seconds.—
Cerys Jones,
New York Times,
2 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Sapping.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/sapping. Accessed 10 Sep. 2025.
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