enfeeble

[en-fee-buhl]

verb (used with object)

enfeebled, enfeebling 

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

Other Word Forms

• enfeebler noun
• enfeeblement noun
• unenfeebled adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of enfeeble¹

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

Example Sentences

Apparently he is powerless to overcome decisions made by his famously enfeebled predecessor.

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For the moment, Trump has been shoved halfway back into the arms of Republican chickenhawks, the enfeebled tools of the military-industrial complex who no doubt suspected this would happen all along.

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She engenders compassion as Elisabeth grapples with her aging body, and a scene where she is enfeebled and struggles to get out of a chair is both achingly painful and achingly funny.

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Initially prematurely aged and enfeebled because of the conniving evil wizard Saruman, he is restored to vitality by the good wizard Gandalf.

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Added to this, Congress, which governed India for decades, looks enfeebled and in decline.

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Related Words

• exhaust 
• fatigue 
• sap 
• weaken