debilitate
verb
Did you know?
Debilitate, enfeeble, undermine, and sap all share the general sense "to weaken." But while debilitate holds the distinction among these words of coming from the Latin word for "weak"—debilis—it packs a potent punch. Often used of disease or something that strikes like a disease or illness, debilitate might suggest a temporary impairment—but a pervasive one at that. Enfeeble, a very close synonym of debilitate, connotes a pitiable, but often reversible, condition of weakness and helplessness. Undermine and sap suggest a weakening by something working surreptitiously and insidiously.
Examples of debilitate in a Sentence
Charlotte Phillipp, PEOPLE, 26 Sep. 2025
Since the age of nine or ten, Katie Burns has had debilitating pain from endometriosis, a condition where tissue resembling the uterine lining grows outside the uterus.
—Berly McCoy, NPR, 26 Sep. 2025
You could one day be spared from ever experiencing the debilitating symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis (RA)—thanks to a new discovery that could help open the door to prevention.
—Hannah Millington, MSNBC Newsweek, 24 Sep. 2025
To prevent outbreaks of this debilitating, disfiguring and deadly disease, state and local governments implemented smallpox inoculation and vaccination campaigns into the early 1900s.
—Stacie Kershner, The Conversation, 22 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for debilitate
Cite this Entry
“Debilitate.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/debilitate. Accessed 6 Oct. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
debilitate
verb
Medical Definition
debilitate
transitive verb
Share