frail

C2+ Topic:Describing Qualities

US /freɪl/ UK /freɪl/ See IPA manual

Minimal pairs

Sounds like flail /l/ vs /r/

Meanings

1

adj
weak and delicate; easily damaged or broken

The frail old man leaned heavily on his cane.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 adj · weak and delicate; easily... weak delicate fragile feeble infirm flimsy brittle slight

Opposites

strong robust sturdy sound vigorous

Word family

Derived forms frailtyfrailnessfrailly

Related forms fragile fracture frangible

Appears in

Phrases (1)

See all

frail humanity
human beings viewed as lacking moral strength or the ability to resist temptation

Adjective + noun

Simplified etymology

Frail entered English in the Middle English period and ultimately comes from Latin frangere, “to break,” the same root as fraction, fracture, fragile, and fragment.

Etymology

From Middle English frele, from Old French fraile, frele, from Latin fragilis ('easily broken'), from frangere ('to break'); a doublet of fragile.

fragilis Latin frangere Latin

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Describing Qualities

External links

# frail

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** adj
**IPA (US):** /freɪl/
**IPA (UK):** /freɪl/

## Meanings
1. weak and delicate; easily damaged or broken

## Examples
- The frail old man leaned heavily on his cane.

## Synonyms
- weak
- delicate
- fragile
- feeble
- infirm
- flimsy
- brittle
- slight

## Antonyms
- strong
- robust
- sturdy
- sound
- vigorous

## Derived Forms
- frailty
- frailness
- frailly

## Related Forms
- fragile
- fracture
- frangible

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: fragilis
- Root: frangere

## Etymology
From Middle English frele, from Old French fraile, frele, from Latin fragilis ('easily broken'), from frangere ('to break'); a doublet of fragile.

## AI Etymology
Frail comes from Middle English frele, from Old French fraile, frele, from Latin fragilis ('easily broken'), from frangere ('to break'); a doublet of fragile. The historical trail runs through Latin fragilis and Latin frangere. In modern use it means weak and delicate; easily damaged or broken. Derived formations include frailty, frailness, frailly; related forms include fragile, fracture, frangible.

## Topics
- Describing Qualities

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