- droop
- droop vb Droop, wilt, flag, sag are comparable when they mean to sink or to lose in vigor, firmness, or freshness.Droop stresses a hanging or bending downward (as through exhaustion, discouragement, or lack of nourishment){
some of the watchers were drooping from weariness— Cather
}{he sat down heavily, his shoulders drooping, his arms falling between his outspread legs— Caldwell
}In extended use it implies a languishing or a subsiding of something previously thriving or flourishing{oh, ye so fiercely tended, ye little seeds of hate! I bent above your growing early and noon and late, yet are ye drooped and pitiful, — ! cannot rear ye straight!— Millay
}Wilt applies especially to plants and suggests a loss of freshness or firmness in flower, leaves, or stems through lack of water or through excessive heat{most cut flowers wilt quickly unless given plenty of fresh water
}The term often may be extended to various things that grow flaccid or weak in response to some stress (as fear, exhaustion, boredom, or a physical agent){collars wilted in the damp heat
}{the witness wilted under the cross-examiner's sarcasm
}{nor did I ever see the nation droop and wilt as we saw it wither under the panic of 1907—White
}{the romance . . . blossomed for six or seven months and then wilted— Co mmins
}Flag may be used of flexible things that hang loosely and limply and, with reference to plants, may be interchangeable with droop{leaves flagging in the heat
}more often it is used of something that loses in vigor or in force so that it suggests dullness, weariness, or languor{the conversation flagged
}{Tristan and Isolde[/i]; it's wonderful beyond words —a sustained ecstasy of love that never flags or grows monotonous— Ellis
}This effect of wearying or boring may be attributed not to the thing which drops in interest or stimulating power but to the energy, spirits, interest, or attention that are concentrated on that thing{for a couple of hours he wrote with energy, and then his energy flagged— H. G. Wells
}{these devices succeed ... in stimulating our interest afresh just at the moment when it was about to flag— T. S. Eliot
}Sag implies a sinking or subsiding, especially at one point, through undue weight, pressure, or improper distribution of stresses{the ceiling shows signs of sagging
}{the bridge sagged under the weight of the truck
}In extended uses it implies a loss of firmness, resiliency, or power to stand up against pressure, and a consequent drooping or decline{though it sags in the middle, the novel is readable throughout— Havighurst
}{his heart sagged with disappointment— Mason
}{prices on the market sagged
}
New Dictionary of Synonyms. 2014.
