shrivel
/ˈʃɹɪvəl/verb
shrivel is spelled S-H-R-I-V-E-L: 7 letters and 2 syllables. It appears about once in every 4 million words in written English, the 60,074th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a verb, shrivel means “To collapse inward; to crumble” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in shrivel?
| Letters | 7: S-H-R-I-V-E-L |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 4 million words; the 60,074th 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 shrivel?
Shrivel appears about once in every 4 million words in written English, the 60,074th 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 shrivel?
- /ˈʃɹɪvəl/
Shrivel 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-shrivel.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of shrivel
- shrivels present, singular, he/she/it
- shriveling US, participle, present
- shrivelling UK, participle, present
- shriveled US, participle, past
- shrivelled UK, participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does shrivel mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
verb
- 1
To collapse inward; to crumble.
The plant shrivelled from lack of water.
- 2
To become wrinkled.
His fingers were shriveled from being in the bath for too long.
- 3
To draw into wrinkles.
The hot sun shrivelled the leaves.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Shrivel in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | se flétrir , se rider , rider |
| Portuguese | murchar , enrugar |
| Spanish | arrugarse , arrugar, enrugar |
| German | schrumpeln, verschrumpeln |
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 shrivel come from?
First recorded as shriveled (“shrivelled”), probably of North Germanic origin related to dialectal Swedish skryvla (“to wrinkle, shrivel”); perhaps ultimately related to Proto-Germanic *skrinkwaną (“to shrivel, shrink”) or *skrimpaną (“to shrink”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).