What does "attenuate" mean?
Attenuate: To make thin or less consistent; to render less viscid or dense; to rarefy. Specifically: To subtilize, as the humors of the body, or to break them into finer parts.
Additional senses
- 2.To lessen the amount, force, or value of; to make less complex; to weaken. To undersell our rivals . . . has led the manufacturer to . . . attenuate his processes, in the allotment of tasks, to an extreme point. I. Taylor. We may reject and reject till we attenuate history into sapless meagerness. Sir F. Palgrave.
- 3.To become thin, slender, or fine; to grow less; to lessen. The attention attenuates as its sphere contracts. Coleridge.
- 4.Made thin or slender.
- 5.Made thin or less viscid; rarefied. Bacon.
Sources
- Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913 edition (public domain, via GCIDE / Project Gutenberg).
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- Published: 2026-07-17 · Modified: 2026-07-17