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
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
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
But he happened to join the lab of a biologist who was studying a virus that can debilitate the blight fungus.
From New York Times • Apr. 30, 2020
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.
