debilitate
Americanverb (used with object)
verb
Other Word Forms
- debilitant noun
- debilitation noun
- debilitative adjective
- nondebilitating adjective
- nondebilitative adjective
- overdebilitate verb (used with object)
- undebilitated adjective
- undebilitating adjective
- undebilitative adjective
Etymology
Origin of debilitate
First recorded in 1525–35; from Latin dēbilitātus (past participle of dēbilitāre ), equivalent to dēbilit-, stem of dēbilis “weak” + -ātus -ate 1
Explanation
To debilitate something is to make it weaker. A bad flu may debilitate your powers of concentration, like the New Year's resolutions that temporarily debilitate bakeries' business. The verb debilitate traces back to the Latin word debilis, meaning “lame, disabled, crippled.” It’s often used to describe what disability or illness does to a person's health, but it can describe anything that has been weakened, like the sense of community that is slowly debilitated by people working longer hours and the lack of sidewalks that in many towns make it harder to walk around and meet the neighbors.
Vocabulary lists containing debilitate
100 SAT Words Beginning with "D"
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"Flag" Day Words
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UCPS 6th Grade Roots List #3
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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.
Both brothers died of Hungtington’s disease, a genetic disorder that began to severely debilitate them during their 30s.
From Salon • Aug. 17, 2025
Extreme and lengthy heat can debilitate bodies; some of the far-reaching effects of extreme heat are already taxing countries in much of the world.
From New York Times • Jan. 6, 2023
Instead of letting it debilitate me, I turned it around and just started getting into the prose of “A Raisin in the Sun.”
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 21, 2022
“Symptoms such as persistent fatigue, breathlessness, brain fog and depression could debilitate many millions of people globally.”
From Seattle Times • Aug. 27, 2021
He needed to be better about that, about letting the nightmares debilitate him.
From "Beasts of Prey" by Ayana Gray
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.
