petered out
Faded to nothing
Petered out means gradually diminished until gone.
Energy peters out, enthusiasm peters out, a conversation peters out.
The phrase implies a slow fading rather than an abrupt stop: The trail petered out in the underbrush.
Interest in the project petered out after the first month.
- subsidedDecreased in intensity
- fizzledFailed after promising start
- sputteredSpoke in fragments
- diminishedMade or became smaller
- decreasedBecame smaller in amount
waned · lost momentum · faded · tapered · tailed off · dwindled · guttered · lessened · ebbed · fade away · wound down · dropped off · came to nothing · exhausted · weakened · anticlimactic · wore off · slow
- diminisheddevalued, lessened, decreased, depreciated, reduced
- disappearedvanished, disappeared, gone, vanish, faded
petered outsurged
Increased suddenly and forcefully
intensified · escalated · ramped up · strengthened · increased
petered outkicked off
Initiated an activity
started up · sprang up · burst forth · emerged · arose
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