waning
Definition
Adjective:
- Decreasing in size, strength, or intensity: Describing something that is gradually becoming smaller, weaker, or less important.
- (Of the moon) Decreasing in illumination: Specifically describing the period after a full moon when the visible, lit portion of the moon appears to get smaller each night.
Noun:
- The process or fact of decreasing: The act of gradually becoming smaller, weaker, or less intense.
Examples of Usage
Adjective:
- The company's waning influence was evident in the market. (The company's decreasing influence was evident.)
- We watched the waning crescent moon from the observatory. (We watched the moon in its decreasing crescent phase.)
Noun:
- The waning of public support forced the government to reconsider its policy. (The decrease in public support forced a reconsideration.)
- The natural cycle includes the waxing and waning of the tides. (The natural cycle includes the increasing and decreasing of the tides.)
Advanced Usage
- "On the wane": This common phrase means in a period of decline or decreasing in power, popularity, or intensity.
- His interest in the project is on the wane. (His interest in the project is decreasing.)
Variants and Related Words
- Wane (verb): To decrease in size, intensity, or degree.
- Enthusiasm for the idea began to wane after the first meeting.
- Waxing (adjective/noun): The opposite process; increasing in size, strength, or illumination (especially of the moon).
Synonyms
- Adjective/Noun (process): Declining, diminishing, fading, ebbing, shrinking, weakening.
- Noun (moon phase): Last quarter, old moon (specific phases within the waning period).
Antonyms
- Adjective/Noun: Waxing, growing, increasing, strengthening, intensifying.
Adjective
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(of the Moon) pertaining to the period during which the visible surface of the moon decreases
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after full moon comes the waning moon
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Noun
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a gradual decrease in magnitude or extent
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the waning of his enthusiasm was obvious
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the waxing and waning of the moon
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