debilitate
Americanverb (used with object)
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debilitates,
present (3rd person singular)
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debilitated,
past participle, past
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debilitating
present participle
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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debilitantnoun
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debilitationnoun
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overdebilitateverb (used with object)
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debilitativeadjective
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nondebilitatingadjective
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nondebilitativeadjective
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undebilitatedadjective
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undebilitatingadjective
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undebilitativeadjective
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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debilitatesimple
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debilitatessimple
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have debilitatedperfect
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has debilitatedperfect
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am debilitatingprogressive
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are debilitatingprogressive
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is debilitatingprogressive
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have been debilitatingperfect progressive
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has been debilitatingperfect progressive
Past
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debilitatedsimple
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had debilitatedperfect
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was debilitatingprogressive
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were debilitatingprogressive
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had been debilitatingperfect progressive
Future
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.
See Examples For:
Both brothers died of Hungtington’s disease, a genetic disorder that began to severely debilitate them during their 30s.
From Salon ● Aug. 17, 2025
But while the government managed to arrest Guzmán, it did not seek to debilitate the cartel’s army, he wrote — allowing the organization to remain intact.
From Washington Post ● Jan. 6, 2023
“Symptoms such as persistent fatigue, breathlessness, brain fog and depression could debilitate many millions of people globally.”
From Seattle Times ● Aug. 27, 2021
Losing a player of that caliber – a perennial All-Star and former MVP -- would debilitate most teams.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 6, 2020
He needed to be better about that, about letting the nightmares debilitate him.
From "Beasts of Prey" by Ayana Gray
Ultimately, the goal is to identify potential genetic targets to treat or even cure the chronic metabolic disease that affects and sometimes debilitates more than 400 million adults worldwide, according to the International Diabetes Federation.
From Science Daily ● Feb. 19, 2024
The more the gestation progresses, the more her mind debilitates.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 9, 2023
For this Global Reach Challenge, Sir Ranulph will have to overcome vertigo and Cheyne-Stokes, a condition which debilitates his breathing above 16,000 feet.
From BBC ● Jul. 15, 2016
It debilitates me to think that my actions have caused her emotional and physical stress that is completely unwarranted and unfair.
From The Guardian ● Jun. 7, 2016
Sea-scurvy is caused by salt diet, the perpetual stimulus of which debilitates the venous and absorbent systems.
From Zoonomia, Vol. II Or, the Laws of Organic Life by Erasmus Darwin
The “long on the road” theme continues in the infectious, fiddle-driven “I Got a Feelin’,” which offers encouragement for a long struggling and debilitated performer: “gotta feelin’ that this song ain’t over yet.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 20, 2026
It has effectively debilitated us from being able to enforce it in most contexts we’ve used it in in the past.
From Slate ● Apr. 30, 2026
On the other hand, a greatly debilitated Cuban government has few cards to play.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 16, 2026
Yet Germany's military remains in a debilitated state - less battle-ready, we are told, than three years ago.
From BBC ● Feb. 20, 2025
It was a pathetic sight: we were all so debilitated that it took the group an incredibly long time just to descend the few hundred feet to the snow slope immediately below.
From "Into Thin Air" by Jon Krakauer
As part of her initial treatment, the BBC News chief presenter underwent several "debilitating" hour-long sessions of venesections.
From BBC ● Sep. 6, 2026
Mr. Boorman managed to injure himself gravely by whipping up dust storms on the Warner Bros. lot; fungal spores got into his lungs and he contracted a rare, sometimes debilitating disease called Valley Fever.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 27, 2026
Drafted in the fifth round by the Philadelphia Eagles, Hardy sustained a debilitating knee injury soon after joining the team.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 26, 2026
He continues to live with memory loss, chronic pain and debilitating headaches.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 26, 2026
But a debilitating case of hepatitis spoiled the vacation.
From "Most Dangerous: Daniel Ellsberg and the Secret History of the Vietnam War" by Steve Sheinkin
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.
