frail
pronunciation
How to pronounce frail in British English:
UK [freɪl]
How to pronounce frail in American English:
US [freɪl]
-
- Noun:
- the weight of a frail (basket) full of raisins or figs; between 50 and 75 pounds
- a basket for holding dried fruit (especially raisins or figs)
-
- Adjective:
- physically weak
- having the attributes of man as opposed to e.g. divine beings
- easily broken or damaged or destroyed
Word Origin
- frail (adj.)
- mid-14c., "morally weak," from Old French fraile, frele "weak, frail, sickly, infirm" (12c., Modern French frêle), from Latin fragilis "easily broken" (see fragility). It is the Frenchified form of fragile. Sense of "easily destroyed, liable to break" in English is from late 14c. The U.S. slang noun meaning "a woman" is attested from 1908; perhaps with awareness of Shakespeare's "Frailty, thy name is woman."
Example
- 1. But mps is frail as well as elderly .
- 2. Frail but articulate , she lives in a comfortable beijing flat with her husband , now 94 , their son and daughter-in-law .
- 3. Nancy reagan , frail but immaculate , presided .
- 4. The country may be developing after the war , but democracy still looks frail .
- 5. In may a pro-ahmadinejad ayatollah obliquely denounced mr rafsanjani for aspiring to be part of a " leadership council " that could succeed the frail mr khamenei .