Things grow and things shrink. Gardens flourish, towns burgeon and rabbits proliferate; the moon wanes, the tide ebbs and storms abate. Each word tells you not just which way something is going but how: fast or slow, by multiplying, by sinking, by wasting away.
Key idea
Growing: flourish and thrive (grow strong and healthy), burgeon (grow fast), proliferate (multiply). Shrinking or easing: wane and dwindle (little by little), ebb (flow back like the tide), abate (lessen; storms, noise, pain), subside (die down or sink lower) and atrophy (waste away from lack of use).
The ten words
Common mistake
The moon waxes and wanes: wane means shrink. abate is used for storms, noise and pain that ease.
| word | which way | you might hear |
|---|---|---|
| flourish | grows well | a flourishing garden |
| thrive | grows strong | children thrive on attention |
| burgeon | grows fast | a burgeoning town |
| proliferate | multiplies | food trucks proliferated |
| wane | shrinks slowly | the waning moon |
| dwindle | shrinks to little | dwindling supplies |
| ebb | flows back out | the tide ebbed |
| abate | eases | the storm abated |
| subside | dies down, sinks | the flood subsided |
| atrophy | wastes away from disuse | muscles atrophy |
The moon waxes (grows) and wanes (shrinks); the tide flows in and ebbs out. Abate is the word for storms, noise, pain and anger that ease. And atrophy is shrinking for one reason only: lack of use.