broken reed

Idioms and Phrases

A weak or unreliable support, as in I'd counted on her to help, but she turned out to be a broken reed . The idea behind this idiom, first recorded about 1593, was already present in a mid-15th-century translation of a Latin tract, “Trust not nor lean not upon a windy reed.”

Example Sentences

The walls of Cloister-Machern received the poor broken reed, who offered to heaven a heart that was dead to the world.

From Project Gutenberg

She stooped to pick up a slim, broken reed that crossed her path, and her face was averted.

From Project Gutenberg

I have always told you not to put your trust in a broken reed—alias man.

From Project Gutenberg

Even Bridget, under the influence of the upper-housemaid, proved a broken reed to lean upon.

From Project Gutenberg

All the time she had felt that Freddie was a broken reed, and such he had proved himself.

From Project Gutenberg