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Shrivelled vs Wizened - What's the difference?

shrivelled | wizened |

As adjectives the difference between shrivelled and wizened

is that shrivelled is wrinkled because the volume has reduced while the surface area of the outer layer has remained constant while wizened is withered; lean and wrinkled by shrinkage as from age or illness.

As verbs the difference between shrivelled and wizened

is that shrivelled is past tense of shrivel while wizened is past tense of wizen.

shrivelled

English

Alternative forms

* shriveled (US)

Adjective

(en adjective)
  • Wrinkled because the volume has reduced while the surface area of the outer layer has remained constant.
    • A prune is a shrivelled plum.
  • Collapsed in size.
    • His insults, from someone I respect so much, make me want to shrivel up and die.

    Verb

    (head)
  • (shrivel)

    • Related terms

    * shrivel up

    wizened

    English

    Verb

    (head)
  • (wizen)

    • Adjective

    (en adjective)
  • Withered; lean and wrinkled by shrinkage as from age or illness.
  • * 1816 , , Old Mortality , ch. 8:
    • "Ill-fard, crazy, crack-brained gowk, that she is!" exclaimed the housekeeper. . . "If it hadna been that I am mair than half a gentlewoman by my station, I wad hae tried my ten nails in the wizen'd hide o' her!"
  • * 1907 , , Before Adam , ch. 7:
    • He was old, too, wizened with age, and the hair on his face was gray.
  • * 2010 May 13, , " Cannes: Best-Ever Film by a 101-Year-Old Man," Time (retrieved 5 Oct 2013):
    • In the simple fable about old age reconciling itself to memory and destiny, Mastroianni wears the wizened smile of a man who knows he is visiting his youth for the last time.