fragile
Americanadjective
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easily broken, shattered, or damaged; delicate; brittle; frail.
a fragile ceramic container; a very fragile alliance.
-
vulnerably delicate, as in appearance.
She has a fragile beauty.
-
lacking in substance or force; flimsy.
a fragile excuse.
adjective
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able to be broken easily
-
in a weakened physical state
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delicate; light
a fragile touch
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slight; tenuous
a fragile link with the past
Synonym Usage
See frail 1.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of fragile
First recorded in 1505–15; from Latin fragilis, equivalent to frag- (variant stem of the verb frangere break ) + -ilis -ile
Explanation
If it's delicate and easily broken, like a rare glass vase or the feelings of an overly emotional friend, it's certainly fragile. Back in the 1500s, fragile implied moral weakness. Then around 1600, its definition broadened to mean “liable to break.” It wasn’t until the 19th century that the word started to mean “frail” and was used to describe people. Today we use it to describe things like spider webs, unstable political systems, and insecure egos. Synonyms include flimsy, vulnerable, and brittle.
Vocabulary lists containing fragile
Give Me a Break!: Fract and Frag
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100 SAT Words Beginning with "F"
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100 Great Words from "Fahrenheit 451" -- Part I Vocabulary
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Higher rates typically slow the economy, however, and the Fed wants to be careful not to cause U.S. growth to slow or weaken a somewhat fragile labor market.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 30, 2026
Confidence among firms picked up a little this month, though the roller-coaster ride of oil prices in recent weeks suggested the recovery could be fragile.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 28, 2026
The revelations tested a fragile alliance of Black and Latino coalitions that organizers have sought to maintain.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 28, 2026
U.S. chip stocks were struggling as a result of fragile investor sentiment ahead of U.S. hyperscaler earnings this week, UBS said as Micron Technology, Intel and Sandisk fell premarket.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 28, 2026
He somehow makes a fragile peace, somehow convinces the gentlemen to wait just a little longer for an east wind.
From "Blood on the River" by Elisa Carbone
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
