Meaning & use
sapped
Last updated
“sapped” is a form of “sap”. See that entry for the full set of meanings.
Meanings
verbtransitive
Gradually drained of strength, energy or confidence over time.
Grammar: Takes an object: the heat sapped his energy; passive: she was sapped by illness.
Patterns
- sap someone's strength
- be sapped by something
- sapped of energy
The long, humid afternoon sapped our energy.
Months of arguing sapped his confidence.
She felt sapped of all strength after the marathon.
verbtransitivefigurative
Weakened or damaged something slowly, as if digging under it, so that it can no longer stand firm.
Grammar: Often figurative with things like morale or foundations as the object.
Patterns
- sap the morale of someone
- sap the foundations of something
Constant criticism sapped the team's morale.
Rising costs sapped the foundations of the small business.
The scandal sapped public trust in the department.
Word forms
| base form | sap |
|---|---|
| third person singular | saps |
| past tense and past participle | sapped |
| -ing form | sapping |
Common combinations
- sapped his strength
- The illness sapped his strength.
- sapped of energy
- I felt sapped of energy after the trip.
- sapped morale
- Long hours sapped morale in the office.
- sapped her will
- The delays sapped her will to continue.
- completely sapped
- He was completely sapped by the heat.
Synonyms and how they differ
- drained
- Drained is the everyday word for left empty of energy, and sounds less slow than sapped.
- exhausted
- Exhausted means totally worn out, often by effort, while sapped stresses a gradual loss.
- weakened
- Weakened is general and does not show the slow draining that sapped suggests.
- undermined
- Undermined is used for confidence or authority being damaged, often by another person.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: sapped or sap?
sapped vs sap
A sap is also the liquid in plants, so context shows whether it means weakening or tree fluid.
Practice
The long delays at the airport completely ___ our enthusiasm for the trip.
Choose one answer.
Sapped means slowly drained away. Tapped could mean used, but it does not show loss, so it does not fit enthusiasm disappearing.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “sapped”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.