To gradually become thinner, weaker, or less significant over time.
To slowly get weaker and smaller, often because of illness or not eating enough.
3 meanings, ordered from most common to least. Color-coded by CEFR level.
To become progressively thinner and weaker, especially because of illness or lack of food.
"After months in hospital, he had wasted away to almost nothing."
He just lay in bed and wasted away.
— General idiomatic usage; widely attested in literary fiction (e.g., Charles Dickens, various works)
To spend one's life or time unproductively, allowing one's talents or potential to go unused.
"She felt like she was wasting away in a job that didn't challenge her."
Used in the phrase 'wasting away' to describe the progressive deterioration of something abstract.
"Without investment, the once-great city was wasting away."
To waste (be consumed/diminished) and go away — the image of something being used up and disappearing captures the meaning well.
To slowly get weaker and smaller, often because of illness or not eating enough.
Most often used to describe physical decline due to illness, starvation, or grief. Can also be used figuratively to describe the decline of something abstract, like talent or opportunity. Common in both British and American English.
Natural word combinations native speakers use most often.
The five tense forms you'll use most often.
Listen to native speakers using "waste away" in real YouTube videos — click a clip to watch it on Looplines.
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