enfeeble

[ en-fee-buhl ]

/ ɛnˈfi bəl /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR enfeeble ON THESAURUS.COM

verb (used with object), en·fee·bled, en·fee·bling.

to make feeble; weaken: That bout of pneumonia enfeebled him.

Nearby words

enewetak, enface, enfant perdu, enfant sauvage, enfant terrible, enfeeble, enfeebled, enfeoff, enfetter, enfever, enfield

Origin of enfeeble

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

SYNONYMS FOR enfeeble

enervate, debilitate.

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR enfeeble ON THESAURUS.COM

Related forms

en·fee·ble·ment, nounen·fee·bler, nounun·en·fee·bled, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for enfeeble

But the cajolery of pipe or string was just as powerless to enfeeble that dogged warrior.
The Danish History, Books I-IX|Saxo Grammaticus ("Saxo the Learned")
An entire abstinence from flesh can only serve to enfeeble Nature.
Buffon's Natural History. Volume VI (of 10)|Georges Louis Leclerc de Buffon
The temper of modern times tends to enfeeble our sense of the supernatural.
Saint Bonaventure|Rev. Fr. Laurence Costelloe, O.F.M.
Still others considered this a good way to enfeeble the oligarchy, so as to curtail its privileges.
The War With Mexico, Volume I (of 2)|Justin H. Smith

They have been as a rule singularly free from the kinds of vice that do most to enfeeble and corrode a race.
Historical and Political Essays|William Edward Hartpole Lecky

British Dictionary definitions for enfeeble

enfeeble

/ (ɪnˈfiːbəl) /

verb

(tr) to make weak; deprive of strength

Derived Forms

enfeeblement, nounenfeebler, noun

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012