frail
Lacking physical strength
Frail describes something or someone weak and easily broken or damaged.
A frail elderly woman lacks physical strength and resilience.
Frail health is precarious.
A frail structure might collapse under stress.
The word suggests delicacy and vulnerability—something requiring careful handling.
Figuratively, frail hopes or frail arguments lack robustness and may not withstand pressure.
Liable to shatter
- breakableCapable of shattering
- delicateEasily broken or harmed
- gossamerFilmy, delicate material
- flimsyWeak and easily damaged
insubstantial · tenuous · diaphanous · papery · eggshell · spindly · fine · wispy
Weak and ineffective
- weakLacking power or force
- delicateEasily broken or harmed
- infirmWeak in body
- feeblenessLack of strength
debility · enervation · exhaustion · fatigue · languor · lassitude · lethargy · listlessness
Advanced in age
tottering · shriveled · infirm · senescent · withered · geriatric · enfeebled · stooped
Lean from deprivation
- haggardExhausted in appearance
- wanPale and unwell-looking
- paleLacking color intensity
- sunkenDescended beneath water level
drawn · pinched · thin · skeletal · bony · wasted · wispy · slight
In poor health
- unwellExperiencing poor health
- bedriddenUnable to leave mattress
- invalidWithout legal force
- convalescentOne recovering from illness
weakened · debilitated · wasted · emaciated · malnourished · anemic · pallid · sallow
Lasting very briefly
- fleetingPassing very quickly
- transientTemporary, soon departing
- perishableProne to decay
- fadingGradual loss of intensity
mortal · impermanent · short-lived · temporal · evanescent · passing · momentary · finite
Open to attack
- defenselessWithout means to resist
- susceptibleEasily influenced or harmed
- helplessUnable to act independently
- exposedOut in open
unprotected · at-risk · precarious · sensitive · dependent · endangered · insecure · assailable
brittle
Liable to shatter
flimsy · insubstantial · tenuous · diaphanous · papery · eggshell · spindly · fine · wispy · threadbare
feeble
Weak and ineffective
feebleness · debility · enervation · exhaustion · fatigue · languor · lassitude · lethargy · listlessness · powerlessness
elderly
Advanced in age
doddering · tottering · shriveled · infirm · senescent · withered · geriatric · enfeebled · stooped · bent
gaunt
Lean from deprivation
sunken · drawn · pinched · thin · skeletal · bony · wasted · wispy · slight · spindly
ailing
In poor health
convalescent · weakened · debilitated · wasted · emaciated · malnourished · anemic · pallid · sallow · peaked
ephemeral
Lasting very briefly
- fleetingPassing very quickly
- transientTemporary, soon departing
- perishableProne to decay
fading · mortal · impermanent · short-lived · temporal · evanescent · passing · momentary · finite · dying
vulnerable
Open to attack
- defenselessWithout means to resist
- susceptibleEasily influenced or harmed
- helplessUnable to act independently
exposed · unprotected · at-risk · precarious · sensitive · dependent · endangered · insecure · assailable
- skinnythin, slim, slender, lean, skinny
- weakweak, feeble, faint, flimsy, infirm
- invalidsinvalid, invalids, infirm, bedridden, incapacitated
- aging humorretirement jokes, senior moments, senior moment, over the hill, old timer
- strength wordsstrong, powerful, mighty, potent, robust
- delicatedelicate, dainty, tender, gentle, soft
- stress fractureMicroscopic bone crack from overuse
- skull fractureBreak in head bone
- fragile egoEasily damaged self-esteem
- sentence fragmentGrammatically incomplete unit
- fragile ecosystemsEnvironments easily harmed by change
- compound fractureBone snaps through skin
fragile, fragment, fracture, frailty, fragility, infraction, refract, frailties, frailness