Enervated

I was reasonably sure I knew what enervate meant .  I thought it was a synonym for energise and meant give somnething energy.  Wrong!

To enervate is to cause something to weaken or to cause someone to feel drained of energy.  As an adjective, enervated means lacking in energy or vitality.

Synonyms for enervated include torpid, listless, lethargic and drained.

Enervate

 
Enervate is one of those words which sounds to me like the opposite of what it is. Whenever I see the word I have to remind myself of its meaning because it always sounds to me as though it should mean to enliven. It doesn’t. To enervate means to make sleepy; weaken mentally or morally; debilitate; or cause a lack of strength or vitality.