dwindle
/ˈdwɪn.dəl/verb
dwindle is spelled D-W-I-N-D-L-E: 7 letters and 2 syllables. It appears about once in every 2 million words in written English, the 46,473rd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a verb, dwindle means “To decrease, shrink, diminish, reduce in size or intensity” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in dwindle?
| Letters | 7: D-W-I-N-D-L-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 2 million words; the 46,473rd most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is dwindle?
Dwindle appears about once in every 2 million words in written English, the 46,473rd most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce dwindle?
- US /ˈdwɪn.dəl/
Dwindle has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-dwindle.ogg, En-au-dwindle.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of dwindle
- dwindles present, singular, he/she/it
- dwindling participle, present
- dwindled participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does dwindle mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
verb
- 1
To decrease, shrink, diminish, reduce in size or intensity.
Their supplies began to dwindle after a week.
- 2
To fall away in quality; degenerate, sink.
- 3
To lessen; to bring low.
- 4
To break up or disperse.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Dwindle in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense (intransitive) to decrease, shrink, vanish:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | diminuer, fondre, s'amenuiser, se tarir, se dessécher, disparaître |
| German | schwinden, abnehmen |
| Portuguese | diminuir, decrescer |
| Spanish | disminuir, agotarse, desaparecer, menguar, decrecer, reducirse |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does dwindle come from?
Frequentative form of dwine, from Middle English dwynen, from Old English dwīnan (“to waste away”), from Proto-West Germanic *dwīnan, from Proto-Germanic *dwīnaną. It is equivalent to dwine + -le, akin to Old Norse dvena, dvína, Dutch verdwijnen (“to disappear, dwindle”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).