frail

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frail¹

(frāl)

adj. frail·er, frail·est

1. Physically weak or delicate: an invalid's frail body; in frail health. See Synonyms at weak.

2. Easily broken or destroyed; fragile: a flower with a frail stem.

3. Not strong or substantial; slight: a frail voice; evidence too frail to stand up in court.

4. Easily led astray; morally weak.

[Middle English frele, from Old French, from Latin fragilis, from frangere, frag-, to break; see bhreg- in Indo-European roots.]

frail′ly adv.

frail′ness n.

frail²

(frāl)

1. A rush basket for holding fruit, especially dried fruit.

2. The quantity of fruit, such as raisins or figs, that such a basket can hold.

[Middle English fraiel, from Old French.]

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

frail

(freɪl)

adj

1. physically weak and delicate

2. fragile: a frail craft.

3. easily corrupted or tempted

[C13: from Old French frele, from Latin fragilis, fragile]

ˈfrailly adv

ˈfrailness n

frail

(freɪl)

1. a rush basket for figs or raisins

2. (Units) a quantity of raisins or figs equal to between 50 and 75 pounds

[C13: from Old French fraiel, of uncertain origin]

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

frail¹

(freɪl)

adj. , -er, -est.

1. having delicate health.

2. easily broken or destroyed.

3. morally weak.

[1300–50; Middle English < Old French < Latin fragilis fragile]

frail′ly, adv.

frail′ness, n.

syn: frail, brittle, fragile imply a delicacy or weakness of substance or construction. frail applies particularly to health and immaterial things: a frail constitution; frail hopes. brittle implies a hard material that snaps or breaks to pieces easily: brittle as glass. fragile implies that the object must be handled carefully to avoid breakage or damage: fragile bric-a-brac.

frail²

(freɪl)

n.

a basket made of rushes and used esp. for dried fruits.

[1300–50; Middle English frayel, fraelle < Old French frayel, of uncertain orig.]

frail

- Fifty pounds of raisins.

Frail

a rush basket, hence, the quantity it could contain, ranging from 30 to 76 Ibs.

Examples: frail of currants, 1836; of figs, 1382; of raisins, 1420; of sprats, 1618.

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

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Noun	1.	frail - the weight of a frail (basket) full of raisins or figs; between 50 and 75 pounds weight unit, weight - a unit used to measure weight; "he placed two weights in the scale pan"
	2.	frail - a basket for holding dried fruit (especially raisins or figs) basket, handbasket - a container that is usually woven and has handles
Adj.	1.	frail - physically weak; "an invalid's frail body" delicate - exquisitely fine and subtle and pleasing; susceptible to injury; "a delicate violin passage"; "delicate china"; "a delicate flavor"; "the delicate wing of a butterfly" weak - wanting in physical strength; "a weak pillar" robust - sturdy and strong in form, constitution, or construction; "a robust body"; "a robust perennial"
	2.	frail - wanting in moral strength, courage, or will; having the attributes of man as opposed to e.g. divine beings; "I'm only a fallible human"; "frail humanity" fallible, imperfect, weak human - having human form or attributes as opposed to those of animals or divine beings; "human beings"; "the human body"; "human kindness"; "human frailty"
	3.	frail - easily broken or damaged or destroyed; "a kite too delicate to fly safely"; "fragile porcelain plates"; "fragile old bones"; "a frail craft" fragile, delicate breakable - capable of being broken or damaged; "earthenware pottery is breakable"; "breakable articles should be packed carefully"

frail

adjective

1. feeble, weak, puny, decrepit, infirm She lay in bed looking particularly frail.
feeble strong, sound, tough, healthy, substantial, robust, vigorous, sturdy, hale, stalwart

2. flimsy, weak, vulnerable, delicate, fragile, brittle, unsound, wispy, insubstantial, breakable, frangible, slight The frail craft rocked as he clambered in.

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

frail

adjective

Not physically strong:

decrepit, delicate, feeble, flimsy, fragile, infirm, insubstantial, puny, unsound, unsubstantial, weak, weakly.

Translations

ضَعيف، واهِنواهٍ

slabýchatrného zdraví

skrøbeligsvagelig

gebrechlich schwach

ευπαθής ντελικάτος

débil frágil delicado

heikko

frêle faible

krhak

gyenge egészségû

veikburîa

debole fragile delicato di salute

かよわい

허약한

trauslsvārs

slaboten

bräcklig

แบบบาง

hastalıklı zayıf

yếu ớt

虚弱的

frail

[freɪl] ADJ (frailer (compar) (frailest (superl))) [person] → débil; [health] → delicado, frágil; [chair etc] → frágil (fig) [hope] → leve; [relationship] → frágil

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

frail

[ˈfreɪl] adj

[old person] → frêle

[thing] → fragile

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

frail

adj (+er)

(= weak) person → gebrechlich; health → zart, anfällig; to be in frail health → kränklich sein, gesundheitlich angeschlagen sein; to look frail → schwach aussehen

(= fragile) structure → fragil; boat, aircraft → leicht gebaut; (fig) hope → schwach; ego → labil; happiness is a frail commodity → Glück ist eine unsichere Angelegenheit

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

frail

[freɪl] adj (-er (comp) (-est (superl))) (person, health, structure) → fragile, delicato/a (fig) (hope, relationship) → tenue, debole

frail

(freil) adjective

weak, especially in health. a frail old lady.

ˈfrailty – plural ˈfrailties – noun

physical weakness or (a) moral failing. She loved him in spite of his frailties.

frail

→ واهٍ slabý skrøbelig schwach ευπαθής débil heikko frêle krhak fragile かよわい 허약한 zwak skjør kruchy frágil хилый bräcklig แบบบาง hastalıklı yếu ớt 虚弱的

frail

adj frágil, débil

Mentioned in ?

References in classic literature ?

The other seems to draw its strength from the very soul of the world, its formidable ally, held to obedience by the frailest bonds, like a fierce ghost captured in a snare of something even finer than spun silk.

View in context

While we were lying there against the warm bank, a little insect of the palest, frailest green hopped painfully out of the buffalo grass and tried to leap into a bunch of bluestem.

View in context

"The frailest of all human creatures is a clergyman tempted by a subscription." Mercy persisted, and conquered; she made him prove the truth of his own profound observation of clerical human nature by taking a piece of money from the purse.

View in context

It may be reasonably inferred that our baby will first expire of inanition, as being the frailest member of our circle; and that our twins will follow next in order.

View in context

For the third time in six months, the IMF reduced its world economic assumption to 3.3 percent from 3.5 percent, the frailest in a decade.

Bridging the gap

Oteri; "Black is the Color" (2016), from Three Folk Songs, Gabrielle Owens; "If Thou'lt Be Mine" (2007), from Three Poems of Thomas Moore, and "John Anderson, My Jo" (2005), from And He'll Be Mine, Dennis Tobenski; "Here the Frailest Leaves of Me" (1986), from Leaves, Craig Urquhart; "Let Me Play the Fool" (2014), from Fools, Philip Wharton; "Night" (2007), from Heaven and Earth, Scott Wheeler; "When First I Loved You" (1998), from Six Love Songs, David Wolfson; "River" (2016), Roger Zahab.

NEW ROADS IN THE AMERICAN ART SONG JOURNEY

The memory of some of my frailest and most vulnerable parishioners fleeing their church is one that will abide with me for a long time.

Vile Orange walk bigot who spat on priest jailed; Twisted thug caged for sickening act

We must always find love within us for all beings, for the frailest bird, the smallest insect and even the dead.

A LACANIAN READING OF KANZA JAVED'S ASHES, WINE, AND DUST: THE MOURNING SUBJECT OF DESIRE

"These routes are relied on by some of our frailest and most vulnerable people, as well as those who depend upon it to get to schools and medical appointments.

Bus firm want to withdraw services

Moscow had targeted Britain because it was Europe's frailest part, the country whose isolation could most conveniently be exposed.

As Europe unites over Novichok, Brexit seems more absurd

Another limitation is that some of the frailest patients may have been excluded in the analysis due to lack of gait speed assessments prior to surgery.

Gait Speed Is Not Associated with Vasogenic Shock or Cardiogenic Shock following Cardiac Surgery, but Is Associated with Increased Hospital Length of Stay

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