as in draining
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as in weakening
to diminish the physical strength of
weeks of hard work had sapped her and left her exhausted
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of sapping
Tim Spiers, New York Times, 7 Jan. 2026
Unfortunately, the austerity and elegance of the downstairs dining room acts as a dampener, hushing the salad’s brashness and sapping much of the fun.
—Helen Rosner, New Yorker, 14 Dec. 2025
To make matters worse, a gastrointestinal issue was sapping my strength.
—Tom Ward, Outside, 17 Nov. 2025
With some notable exceptions, bringing in an outsider can send the morale-sapping message that the board has lost confidence in its other executives, Sonnenfeld warned.
—Andrew Edgecliffe-Johnson, semafor.com, 14 Nov. 2025
Food shortages would mean the disappearance of luxuries and the rationing of staples, sapping public morale.
—Charlie Campbell, Time, 23 Oct. 2025
That’s so precious to me right now, and the idea of producing a lot of stuff — and sapping all of that free time — is not appealing.
—Brian Davids, HollywoodReporter, 25 Sep. 2025
However, these decisions shouldn’t be sapping you of your energy altogether.
—Mark Travers, Forbes.com, 20 Aug. 2025
The film charts Stone’s tragic descent into severe drug addiction, sapping the creativity that had astonished the world.
—Matthew Carey, Deadline, 20 Aug. 2025
Verb
Stokes, who seldom completes a five-Test series these days, had dragged his creaking, aching body through almost five full matches of hard, hot, energy-sapping cricket, like scraping butter over too much bread, but somehow soldiering on.
—Recent Examples of Synonyms for sapping
Adjective
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Long periods of socializing, like a weeklong conference, can feel far more draining than shorter events.—
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By aligning strategic work with those rhythms, productivity can feel more natural and less draining.—
Verb
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Milk, butter and cheese prices on the wholesale market and at grocery stores have decreased slightly due to oversupply and weakening consumer demand.—
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This suggests consumers enter 2026 with continuing concerns over high prices and weakening labor market conditions.—
Adjective
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Austen and Tate lived together in a small apartment until Austen’s arthritis proved too debilitating.—
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Over the next three years, Lia would develop a perplexing, debilitating, and persistent set of symptoms.—
Verb
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Each of the eight luxurious scents is packed with softening coconut oil and shea butter.—
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Fischer especially recommends making sound-softening updates in rooms with higher ceilings, open layouts, and hardwood flooring, all of which can amplify echo and reverb.—
Verb
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Don’t bother wasting your money—using it more than once a day won’t yield ‘better’ or faster results.—
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People become paralyzed by choice and the risk of wasting time on something bad.—
Cite this Entry
“Sapping.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/sapping. Accessed 12 Jan. 2026.
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