fragile
Americanadjective
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easily broken, shattered, or damaged; delicate; brittle; frail.
a fragile ceramic container; a very fragile alliance.
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vulnerably delicate, as in appearance.
She has a fragile beauty.
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lacking in substance or force; flimsy.
a fragile excuse.
adjective
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able to be broken easily
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in a weakened physical state
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delicate; light
a fragile touch
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slight; tenuous
a fragile link with the past
Related Words
See frail 1.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of fragile
First recorded in 1505–15; from Latin fragilis, equivalent to frag- (variant stem of the verb frangere break ) + -ilis -ile
Explanation
If it's delicate and easily broken, like a rare glass vase or the feelings of an overly emotional friend, it's certainly fragile. Back in the 1500s, fragile implied moral weakness. Then around 1600, its definition broadened to mean “liable to break.” It wasn’t until the 19th century that the word started to mean “frail” and was used to describe people. Today we use it to describe things like spider webs, unstable political systems, and insecure egos. Synonyms include flimsy, vulnerable, and brittle.
Vocabulary lists containing fragile
Give Me a Break!: Fract and Frag
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100 SAT Words Beginning with "F"
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100 Great Words from "Fahrenheit 451" -- Part I Vocabulary
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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.
U.K. government borrowing costs climbed Friday to their highest level since the 2008-09 global financial crisis, piling pressure onto already fragile government finances.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 15, 2026
The island has developed a distinct if fragile sense of identity in its mere three decades as a democracy.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 14, 2026
A fragile truce followed but one of the main questions hanging over this visit is whether that will last, and what deal would take its place?
From BBC • May 14, 2026
The system was able to run for an extended period without active control, an important feature for future quantum technologies that cannot depend on fragile, constantly adjusted laboratory setups.
From Science Daily • May 13, 2026
They could wreck the fragile goodwill Ike had built with the Soviet leader.
From "Fallout: Spies, Superbombs, and the Ultimate Cold War Showdown" 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.
