Definition

1. Adjective:
   • Depleted of water; having had all or most water removed: Describes something that was once wet or contained water but is now dry, often due to natural processes or intentional action.
   • (Especially of vegetation) Having lost all moisture; withered, shriveled: Describes plants, grass, or leaves that have become dry, brittle, and often brown due to lack of water.

Usage Examples

• Adjective:
  • After the long drought, the riverbed was completely dried-up.
  • We found only a dried-up old pen in the drawer.
  • The dried-up grass crunched under our feet.
  • The landscape was brown and dried-up after months without rain.

Advanced Usage

• Figurative Use for People or Things: Can describe a person, idea, or source that has lost vitality, energy, or productivity.
  • The novelist was accused of being a dried-up old hack with no new ideas.
  • That funding stream has been dried-up for years.

Variants and Related Words

• Dry (verb/adjective): The general state of lacking moisture. "Dried-up" implies a process from wet to dry.
• Dehydrated (adjective): Often used for food or the body, meaning having had water removed.
• Desiccated (adjective): A more formal or technical term for dried thoroughly.
• Sere (adjective): A literary term meaning dry and withered (especially vegetation).
• Withered/Shriveled (adjective): Having shrunk and wrinkled, often due to loss of moisture.

Synonyms

• Parched
• Arid
• Dehydrated
• Desiccated
• Sere
• Withered

Antonyms

• Wet
• Moist
• Hydrated
• Lush
• Verdant

Related Phrases/Idioms

• To dry up: (Phrasal Verb) To lose all water or moisture; to stop producing or being available.
  • The well dried up last summer.
  • Investment in the sector has completely dried up.
• Dried-up old...: A common, sometimes derogatory, collocation to describe someone perceived as old, boring, and without passion or new ideas.
  • He was portrayed as a dried-up old bureaucrat.

Adjective

1. depleted of water
   • a dried-up water hole
2. (used especially of vegetation) having lost all moisture
   • dried-up grass
   • the desert was edged with sere vegetation
   • shriveled leaves on the unwatered seedlings
   • withered vines