Meaning & use
Sapping
Last updated
Gradually weakening or draining someone's strength, energy, or resolve.
See it in a sentence
The relentless heat was sapping the runners' energy by mile twenty.
Years of stress had been sapping her enthusiasm for the job.
A note on using this word
Originally a military term for digging trenches to undermine a fortification, later extended to any gradual draining of strength.
Words with a similar meaning
drainingdepleting
Choose a synonym to suit the sentence. Meanings can overlap without being identical.
Words with an opposite meaning
energizingstrengthening
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