enflaquecer

From en- +‎ flaco (“thin”) +‎ -ecer, from Latin flaccus.

• IPA^(key): (Spain) /enflakeˈθeɾ/
• IPA^(key): (Latin America, Philippines) /enflakeˈseɾ/
• Rhymes: -eɾ
• Syllabification: en‧fla‧que‧cer

enflaquecer (first-person singular present enflaquezco, first-person singular preterite enflaquecí, past participle enflaquecido)

1. (transitive) to make thin, weaken, emaciate (to cause to become extremely thin or wasted)
2. (intransitive) to thin out, lose weight (to become less heavy or obese)
3. (intransitive) to grow weak (to lose one's physical strength)
   • 1915, Julio Vicuña Cifuentes, Mitos y Supersticiones Recogidos de la Tradición Oral Chilena, page 35:

     El Colocolo es una ratoncillo muy bravo. Anida cerca de las habitaciones, y la persona a quien le bebe la saliva, comienze desde momento a enflaquecer y a desfigurarse, y concluye morir, si no se logra matar a tiempo al animalejo.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

• “enflaquecer”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2024 December 10