vulnerability

[ vuhl-ner-uh-bil-i-tee ]

noun

1. openness or susceptibility to attack or harm:

   We need to develop bold policies that will reduce the vulnerability of farmers to drought and floods.

2. willingness to show emotion or to allow one’s weaknesses to be seen or known; willingness to risk being emotionally hurt:

   The foundation for open communication consists of honesty, trust, and vulnerability.

3. the condition of needing supportive or protective social services and community resources because of advanced age, poverty, disability, etc.:

   the vulnerability of disabled senior citizens.

4. Biology, Ecology. likeliness to be classified as an endangered species in the near future unless circumstances improve:

   the vulnerability of the giraffe.

Word History and Origins

Origin of vulnerability¹

First recorded in 1800–10; vulnerable ( def ) + -ity ( def )

Example Sentences

The results imply that drought vulnerability analyses relying only on the historical streamflow record may severely underestimate the magnitude of potential drought events and their impacts on water storage, agriculture and municipal water supply.

From Science Daily

"It demonstrates the enduring consequences that prenatal cannabis exposure exerts on the brain's reward system, which ultimately results in a neurobiological vulnerability to opioid drugs."

From Science Daily

They recognized that the club’s direct democratic process — and its annual elections of three members of its 15-person board — was a vulnerability, and they assembled the first stages of a plan: a hostile takeover.

From Salon

However, the vulnerabilities of these vessels must be understood by those that operate and control them.

From BBC

Or do you recognize it as part of your vulnerability, a little nick at your ego?

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• susceptibility