wizen means wizened; withered; lean and wrinkled by shrinkage as from age or illness. Lexicurio rates it Rare gem — a strength score of 74 out of 100.
wizen is pronounced /ˈwɪzən/.
Why “wizen” is a great word
WIZEN — [Verb/Adjective] To become, or to have become, lean, gaunt, and deeply wrinkled through the slow, consuming drain of vitality. From Middle English wisenen, from Old English wisnian, weosnian (“to wither”), from Proto-West Germanic *wisnōn, from Proto-Germanic *wisnōną, from Proto-Germanic *wesaną (“to consume”). Unlike shrivel, a general contraction from moisture loss, or desiccate, a technical removal of fluid, wizen describes the specific, organic attrition etched by time or hardship. It is the apple forgotten in the cellar, collapsed into a leathery husk; the hands of an old farmer, maps of drought drawn in skin and bone; the face that has tightened around its history like a drumhead. It is the portrait not of death, but of its long, patient approach.
Etymology
Inherited from Middle English wisenen, from Old English wisnian, weosnian, from Proto-West Germanic *wisnōn, from Proto-Germanic *wisnōną, from Proto-Germanic *wesaną (“to consume”). Cognate with Icelandic visna, Gothic 𐍆𐍂𐌰𐍅𐌹𐍃𐌰𐌽 (frawisan, “to squander through feasting”).
adj
- Wizened; withered; lean and wrinkled by shrinkage as from age or illness.“His face was wizen and wrinkled, his faded blue eyes dim and weak-looking. He was feeble, and his hands were tremulous with a perpetual nervous motion.”
verb
- To wither; to become, or make, lean and wrinkled by shrinkage, as from age or illness.“After wizening with cold for an hour, we ran down to the hut for breakfast, rejoicing in having brought with us some portable soup ; and after a second visit to the summit, started at eight, when the day seemed already far advanced, along with the Bleiberg party, for the descent.”