Meaning & use
devitalizing
Last updated
“devitalizing” is a form of “devitalize”.
Meanings
verbtransitive or intransitive
Making someone or something lose energy, strength, or life.
Grammar: As a participle it can take an object (devitalizing the tissue) or stand after a linking verb (the mood was devitalizing).
Patterns
- devitalizing someone
- devitalizing something
- something is devitalizing
The long, gray winter was devitalizing the whole village.
Chemicals used in the process are devitalizing the surrounding soil.
His constant criticism had a devitalizing effect on the team.
verbtransitivemedicaltechnical
In medicine, removing the life or nerve supply from a tooth or tissue.
Grammar: Used as a technical participle before a noun: a devitalizing treatment, devitalizing a tooth.
Patterns
- devitalizing a tooth
- devitalizing treatment
The dentist explained that devitalizing the tooth would stop the pain.
Devitalizing procedures are sometimes used before a root canal.
Word forms
| base form | devitalize |
|---|---|
| third person singular | devitalizes |
| past tense | devitalized |
| past participle | devitalized |
| -ing form | devitalizing |
Common combinations
- devitalizing effect
- The illness had a devitalizing effect on his appetite.
- devitalizing treatment
- She needed a devitalizing treatment on the damaged tooth.
- devitalizing the soil
- Heavy farming was devitalizing the soil year after year.
Synonyms and how they differ
- draining
- More common and informal; it suggests using up energy rather than removing life itself.
- weakening
- Focuses on loss of strength and is less strong than devitalizing.
- enervating
- Formal and literary; it means making someone feel tired and lacking energy.
Opposites
Word family
- devitalize verb
- To make something lose strength or life.
- devitalized adjective
- Having lost strength, life, or nerve supply.
- devitalization noun
- The act or process of making something lose life or energy.
Commonly confused: devitalizing or devitalized?
devitalizing vs devitalized
This is the past tense or adjective form; devitalizing describes an ongoing action or a quality that drains.
Practice
Which sentence uses "devitalizing" correctly?
Choose one answer.
"Devitalizing" describes something that drains energy, so the weather affecting the workers fits. Option 2 is wrong because a devitalizing tooth would be losing life, not healthy. Option 3 confuses the participle with an adjective for feeling refreshed, and option 4 uses the wrong verb form.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “devitalizing”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.