exhaustion

Meanings

1. 1noununcountable

   A state of being so tired, in body or mind, that you have almost no strength left.

   Grammar: No plural and no article: she collapsed from exhaustion.

   Patterns

   • collapse from exhaustion
   • suffer from exhaustion

   He fell asleep at the table from sheer exhaustion.

   After the marathon, runners were nearly collapsing with exhaustion.

   Parents of newborns often struggle with exhaustion.

2. 2noununcountable

   The using up of a supply until nothing is left.

   Grammar: Followed by of and the resource: the exhaustion of oil reserves.

   Patterns

   • the exhaustion of something

   Experts warned of the exhaustion of fresh water supplies.

   The exhaustion of the budget forced the school to cut programs.

   Soil exhaustion followed years of planting the same crop.

Common combinations

physical exhaustion

She was hospitalized for physical exhaustion.

mental exhaustion

Mental exhaustion made simple decisions hard.

collapse from exhaustion

He nearly collapsed from exhaustion at the finish line.

complete exhaustion

He slept for twelve hours in complete exhaustion.

heat exhaustion

Drink water to avoid heat exhaustion.

Synonyms and how they differ

fatigue

Fatigue is a common and also medical word, and it may be milder than exhaustion.

weariness

Weariness is gentler and often emotional or from long effort, whereas exhaustion is complete.

tiredness

Tiredness is the everyday word and covers any level, while exhaustion is the extreme end.

burnout

Burnout is long-term stress from work, which is a narrower cause than exhaustion.

Opposites

Word family

exhaust verb

to tire out or use up completely

exhausted adjective

extremely tired

exhausting adjective

causing extreme tiredness

inexhaustible adjective

never running out

Commonly confused: exhaustion or exhaust?

Practice

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Write a sentence using “exhaustion”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

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