sapless
Without vital fluid
Sapless describes something drained of sap—the vital fluid in plants—and by extension, anything lacking vitality, energy, or spirit.
A sapless branch is dead or dying; a sapless person is weak or listless.
The word carries a sense of being dried out, depleted of what once gave life: a sapless old bureaucracy, sapless prose that put readers to sleep.
Stripped of moisture
- witheredDried and shrunken
- shriveledContracted from moisture loss
- wiltedLimp from dehydration
- sereDried and shriveled
desiccated · parched · dehydrated · brittle · crisp · husk · wizened · dead wood
Lacking edge or interest
- spiritlessLacking energy or enthusiasm
- lacklusterLacking brilliance or vitality
- uninspiredLacking creative spark
- blandLacking distinctive qualities
vapid · insipid · flat · weak · feeble · anemic · listless · languid
dried
Stripped of moisture
sere · desiccated · parched · dehydrated · brittle · crisp · husk · wizened · dead wood · drought-stricken
dull
Lacking edge or interest
- spiritlessLacking energy or enthusiasm
- lacklusterLacking brilliance or vitality
- uninspiredLacking creative spark
bland · vapid · insipid · flat · weak · feeble · anemic · listless · languid · enervated
- drynessarid, aridity, dry, dehydrated, bone dry