wax and wane
Grow then shrink
To wax is to grow larger or stronger; to wane is to shrink or diminish.
The phrase comes from the moon's monthly cycle of increasing and decreasing illumination.
Together, wax and wane describes natural fluctuation over time: His enthusiasm waxed and waned throughout the project.
Empires wax and wane across centuries.
Cyclical rise and decline
- rise and fallCyclical upward-downward movement
- fluctuateVary irregularly over time
- oscillateMove rhythmically between extremes
- cycleRepeating sequence of events
rhythm · periodicity · tides · phases · lunar · monthly · seasonal · recurrent
To make smaller
- recedeMove back from
- subsideDecrease in intensity
- ebbGradual retreat seaward
- dwindleDecrease gradually over time
fade · wither · abate · crescent · gibbous · twilight · sunset · autumn
Good fortune, success
- adversitySevere difficulty or suffering
- vicissitudesSuccessive changes in circumstances
- fatePredetermined course of events
- luckChance affecting outcomes
circumstance · wheel of fortune · highs and lows · ups and downs · boom and bust · glory · decline · ascent
ebb and flow
Cyclical rise and decline
- rise and fallCyclical upward-downward movement
- fluctuateVary irregularly over time
- oscillateMove rhythmically between extremes
cycle · rhythm · periodicity · tides · phases · lunar · monthly · seasonal · recurrent · pendulum
diminish
To make smaller
dwindle · fade · wither · abate · crescent · gibbous · twilight · sunset · autumn · senescence
prosperity
Good fortune, success
- adversitySevere difficulty or suffering
- vicissitudesSuccessive changes in circumstances
- fatePredetermined course of events
luck · circumstance · wheel of fortune · highs and lows · ups and downs · boom and bust · glory · decline · ascent · downfall
flourishing
Prospering vigorously
- blossomingBeginning to flower
- ascendingMoving upward
- swellingAbnormal tissue enlargement
surging · building · mounting · rising · cresting · peaking · zenith · apex · fullness · ripening