Synonyms

enfeeble

American

[en-fee-buhl] / ɛnˈfi bəl /

verb (used with object)

enfeebled, enfeebling

to make feeble; weaken.

That bout of pneumonia enfeebled him.

Synonyms:

debilitate, enervate

enfeeble British

/ ɪnˈfiːbəl /

verb

(tr) to make weak; deprive of strength

"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

Other Word Forms

enfeeblement noun
enfeebler noun
unenfeebled adjective

Etymology

Origin of enfeeble

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

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.

Partisanship, the first president observed, “serves always to distract the public councils and enfeeble the public administration.”

From The Wall Street Journal

She has traveled to Kyiv aiming to set up partnerships between enfeebled German automobile and machine makers—industries that currently shed 15,000 specialist jobs a month—and Ukrainian arms companies.

From The Wall Street Journal

The former Red Army is in an enfeebled state.

From The Wall Street Journal

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.

From Salon

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

From New York Times

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023