atrophy
AT-ruh-feeverbMeaning to waste away or weaken from lack of use
Memory hook A TROPHY gathering dust. Grandpa Gus won a tennis trophy long ago, but he hasn’t touched a racket since. The trophy gathers dust, and his tennis skills atrophy.
After six weeks in a cast, the muscles in Dev’s arm had begun to atrophy.
In context Skills you never practice can atrophy; after ten years without playing, Grandma found she could barely remember a single song on the piano.
Similar waste away, wither, weaken, shrink
Opposite strengthen, grow, develop
From Greek atrophia, “lack of food, wasting away”: a (without) + trophe (nourishment).