frail

/freɪ(ə)l/

/freɪl/

Other forms: frailer; frailest; frails; frailly

Something that is delicate and fragile can be described as frail. Grandma's favorite vase is probably too frail to use for football practice; some of us have learned that the hard way.

Frail can also be used to describe a person's physical condition: "When I broke my grandmother's vase, she yelled in a voice so loud that it was hard to believe it was coming from her small, frail frame." Another way to use frail is in reference to a person's emotional state. As the poet Sylvia Plath astutely observed, "How frail the human heart must be."

Definitions of frail

1. adjective

   physically weak
   “an invalid's frail body”

   synonyms:

   delicate

   exquisitely fine and subtle and pleasing; susceptible to injury

   debile, decrepit, feeble, infirm, rickety, sapless, weak, weakly

   lacking bodily or muscular strength or vitality

   light-boned

   having a bone structure that is light with respect to the surrounding flesh

   weak

   wanting in physical strength

   antonyms:

   robust

   sturdy and strong in form, constitution, or construction

   rugged

   sturdy and strong in constitution or construction; enduring

   healthy

   having or indicating good health in body or mind; free from infirmity or disease

   beefy, buirdly, burly, husky, strapping

   muscular and heavily built

   big-boned

   having a bone structure that is massive in contrast with the surrounding flesh

   big-chested, chesty

   marked by a large or well-developed chest

   big-shouldered, broad-shouldered, square-shouldered

   having broad shoulders

   cast-iron, iron

   extremely robust

   hardy, stalwart, stout, sturdy

   having rugged physical strength; inured to fatigue or hardships

   hardy

   able to survive under unfavorable weather conditions

   half-hardy

   (of plants) requiring protection from frost

   heavy-armed

   having massive arms

   square-built

   broad and solidly built

   vigorous

   strong and active physically or mentally

   strong

   having strength or power greater than average or expected
2. adjective

   easily broken or damaged or destroyed
   “a frail craft”

   synonyms: delicate, fragile

   breakable

   capable of being broken or damaged
3. adjective

   wanting in moral strength, courage, or will; having the attributes of man as opposed to e.g. divine beings
   “frail humanity”

   synonyms: fallible, imperfect, weak

   human

   having human form or attributes as opposed to those of animals or divine beings
4. noun

   a basket for holding dried fruit (especially raisins or figs)
   type of:

   basket, handbasket

   a container that is usually woven and has handles
5. noun

   the weight of a frail (basket) full of raisins or figs; between 50 and 75 pounds
   type of:

   weight, weight unit

   a unit used to measure weight