frailty

[ freyl-tee, frey-uhl- ]

noun

, plural frail·ties

1. the quality or state of being frail.

   Synonyms: weakness, delicacy

2. moral weakness; liability to yield to temptation.
3. a fault resulting from moral weakness:

   frailties of the human flesh.

   Synonyms: defect, flaw

frailty

/ ˈfreɪltɪ /

noun

1. physical or moral weakness
2. often plural a fault symptomatic of moral weakness

Other Words From

• over·frailty noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of frailty¹

1300–50; Middle English frailte, frelete < Old French frailete < Latin fragilitāt- (stem of fragilitās ). See frail ¹, -ity

Example Sentences

When we debate how its 250th anniversary will be observed, when our political fissures and constitutional frailties will probably be so depressingly evident, that is the legacy we will be contesting.

From Washington Post

They too are starting a company and are aiming for human clinical trials to determine if simply flushing out the bloodstream can help with problems like frailty and declining cognition.

From Popular-Science

If they don’t address issues that have arisen during the pandemic — muscle weakness, poor nutrition, disrupted sleep, anxiety, social isolation and more — these older adults face the prospect of poorer health and increased frailty, experts warn.

From Washington Post

Equally vital is Goths’ ability to find humor, irony and beauty in supposedly “ugly” sources, such as flowers that grow by a cemetery or the absurd frailties of the aging body.

From Washington Post

You’ve also taken a mature position on your parents and their frailties.

From Washington Post

A lovely, empathetic novel about middle-aged mental frailty.

From The Daily Beast

For many seniors, driving represents the difference between isolation and the frailty spiral.

From The Daily Beast

“This can then lead to inactivity, which can lead to frailty, then to ill health,” she says.

From The Daily Beast

These Republicans still frighten voters with visions of an old age in poverty and frailty.

From The Daily Beast

But we also need to recognize that racial bias is a human frailty of even good, well-meaning people.

From The Daily Beast

He who shall pass judgment on the records of our life is the same that formed us in frailty.

From Project Gutenberg

In the after days he won yet more glory and confidence, despite this showing of human frailty.

From Project Gutenberg

Mr. Seward was no exception to this common frailty among mankind.

From Project Gutenberg

He dreamt of man, but chiefly of God—of Gods goodness and greatness, of mans impotence and frailty.

From Project Gutenberg

One always looks with some suspicion—such is the frailty of editorial and other samples of human nature!

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• defect
• deficiency
• failing
• fallibility
• foible
• imperfection
• infirmity
• shortcoming