enervate

This was an enervating day for us. We traveled to the east coast of Florida to visit John’s dad who is 91. Between wanting to have everything go well, to dealing with the traffic, to running into a large group of tiny, belligerent elderly women, the day definitely was draining.

enervate – To weaken or destroy the strength or vitality

Sometimes people mistakenly use enervate to mean “to invigorate” or “to excite” by assuming that this word is a close cousin of the verb energize. In fact enervate does not come from the same source as energize (Greek energos, “active”). It comes from Latin nervus, “sinew.” Thus enervate means “to cause to become ‘out of muscle’,” that is, “to weaken or deplete of strength.” (Dictionary.com)

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