enfeeble

[ en-fee-buhl ]

verb (used with object)

, en·fee·bled, en·fee·bling.

1. to make feeble; weaken:

   That bout of pneumonia enfeebled him.

   Synonyms: debilitate, enervate

enfeeble

/ ɪnˈfiːbəl /

verb

1. tr to make weak; deprive of strength

Derived Forms

• enˈfeebler, noun
• enˈfeeblement, noun

Other Words From

• en·feeble·ment noun
• enfeebler noun
• unen·feebled adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of enfeeble¹

1300–50; Middle English enfeblen < Old French enfeblir. See en- ¹, feeble

Example Sentences

In a letter to Dr. Gabadadze and other deans, they wrote that they worried about setting “a precedent, completely lacking in due process, that could undermine faculty freedoms and correspondingly enfeeble proven pedagogic practices.”

From New York Times

The paradox is that trauma’s lingering impacts can enfeeble human connection, weakening even the strongest of social bonds.

From New York Times

How, in other words, fear and neglect, rather than the waywardness Vogel rails against, are what really enfeeble the mind.

From Los Angeles Times

But the line has shifted in recent weeks with the administration shipping ever more sophisticated military equipment and expressing more openly its ambitions not just to help the Ukrainians but to defeat and even enfeeble Russia.

From New York Times

The Republican-appointed justices may yet enfeeble the executive branch’s ability to implement federal law.

From Slate

Related Words

• exhaust
• fatigue
• sap
• weaken