frail

1 easily broken a frail eggshell Synonyms breakable, delicate, fragile, frangibleRelated Words dainty, fine, gossamer; eggshell, flimsy, slight, tenuous; brittle, crisp, crispy, crumbly, crushable, embrittled, flaky (also flakey), friable, shaky, shivery, short; feeble, infirm, soft, spindly, tender, weak; inelastic, inflexible, stiffNear Antonyms compact, firm, hard, rigid, solid, substantial, unyielding; elastic, flexible, resilient, rubberlike, rubbery, springy, stretch, stretchable, suppleAntonyms infrangible, nonbreakable, strong, sturdy, tough, unbreakable

2 easily injured without careful handling be careful with your grandmother, as she's very frail and a fall would be disastrous Synonyms delicate, fragile, tender, sensitiveRelated Words breakable, brittle, crushable, eggshell, frangible, friable; feeble, flimsy, puny, slight, soft, tenuous, weak; nonhardy, perishable, resistless, susceptible, unresistant, vulnerable, yieldingNear Antonyms durable, firm, flinty, hard, hardy, resistant, robust, rugged, solid, sound, stiff, stout, strong, sturdy, substantial; infrangible, nonbreakable, unbreakable; hardened, inured, strengthened, tempered, toughenedAntonyms tough

3 lacking bodily strength he was frail after a long battle with bronchitis Synonyms asthenic, debilitated, delicate, down-and-out, effete, enervated, enfeebled, faint, feeble, weak, infirm, languid, low, prostrate, prostrated, sapped, slight, soft, softened, tender, unsubstantial, wasted, weakened, wimpish, wimpyRelated Words challenged, disabled, incapacitated, invalid; paralyzed; broken-down, decrepit; impotent, powerless; breakable, flimsy, fragile; dizzy, groggy, rocky, unsteady, woozy; drained, exhausted, flagging, tired, weary, worn-out; damaged, harmed, hurt, impaired, injured, lame, unsound; resistless, susceptible, unresistant, vulnerable, yieldingNear Antonyms able-bodied, athletic, beefy, brawny, fit, husky, muscular, sinewy, strapping, virile; hard, hardy, lusty, red-blooded, robust, sturdy, tough; fortified, hardened, inured, strengthened, toughened; energetic, energized, invigorated, vigorous, vitalized; hale, healthy, sound; capable, competent; convalescing, recovering, recuperatingAntonyms mighty, powerful, rugged, stalwart, stout, strong

4 lacking strength of will or character a frail person, easily swayed by others Synonyms characterless, effete, weak, invertebrate, limp-wristed, milk-and-water, namby-pamby, nerveless, soft, spineless, weakened, weak-kneed, weakling, wet [British], wimpish, wimpy, wishy-washyRelated Words flabby, flaccid, forceless, ineffective, ineffectual; impotent, impuissant, powerless; emasculated, unnerved; lamblike, meek, pliable, submissive; corrupt, dastardly, unprincipled, unscrupulous, villainous; cowardly, craven, fainthearted, lily-livered, nebbishy, poltroon, pusillanimous, sissy, timid; infirm, irresolute, vacillatingNear Antonyms ethical, good, moral, principled, right, righteous, upright, virtuous; determined, mettlesome, resolute, unrelenting; courageous, stalwart, stoutheartedAntonyms backboned, firm, hard, strong, tough

5 small in degree a frail hope of success Synonyms fragile, remote, negligible, off, outside, slight, slim, smallRelated Words marginal, minimal, minor; little, tinyNear Antonyms great, large; distinct, significant; considerable, goodly, healthy, largish, respectable, significant, sizable (or sizeable), substantial, tidyAntonyms good