Translation guide
Describes something becoming wrinkled, shrunken, or dried up, often due to loss of moisture or vitality. Japanese has several verbs that capture different nuances: drying out, wrinkling, or withering.
To describe something like skin, fruit, or leaves that loses moisture and becomes wrinkled and smaller.
Commonly used for vegetables, fruit, or skin that shrivels from losing moisture. Often implies a loss of freshness.
This apple has shriveled up.
Shriveled vegetables can be used in soup.
Describes something that deflates or withers, like a balloon losing air or a flower wilting. Can also be used for hopes or dreams fading.
The flowers have shriveled/wilted.
The balloon deflated.
Emphasizes extreme drying out, often to the point of being hard and brittle. Used for things like dried-up earth, mummified remains, or completely dehydrated food.
A shriveled mummy was discovered.
The soil is shriveled and cracked.
To describe skin that becomes wrinkled, like fingertips after a bath or an elderly person's face.
A colloquial phrase meaning 'to become all wrinkly'. Often used for skin after being in water or for aged skin.
My fingers got all shriveled from a long bath.
Grandma's hands are shriveled/wrinkled.
Literally 'wrinkles gather'. A more standard way to say something becomes wrinkled, often used for fabric or skin.
This shirt shrivels/wrinkles easily.
To describe plants or abstract things like hopes or energy that dry up and fade away.
The standard verb for plants dying and drying up. Can be used metaphorically for talents or emotions fading.
The flowers shriveled up from lack of water.
His talent shriveled up.
Specifically for plants wilting or drooping. Also used for a person's spirit drooping.
To describe something that contracts or shrinks in size, often with a wrinkled appearance.
General verb for shrinking or contracting. Can be used for clothes, materials, or even lifespan.
The sweater shriveled/shrank in the wash.
It made my life shrivel up (idiom: it scared me to death).
しなびる is for wrinkling from moisture loss (fruit, skin). しぼむ is for deflating or wilting (balloons, flowers, hopes). 干からびる is for extreme dehydration (mummies, cracked earth). Choose based on the degree of dryness and the original state.
If something is intentionally dried (like dried fruit or jerky), use 乾燥した (かんそうした) or 干した (ほした) instead. 'Shrivel' in English often implies an undesirable or accidental process, which matches the Japanese verbs above.
暑さで観葉植物が萎れてしまった。
The houseplant shriveled/wilted in the heat.