frail
1 Americanadjective
-
frailer,
comparative
-
frailest
superlative
noun
noun
-
a flexible basket made of rushes, used especially for dried fruits, as dates, figs, or raisins.
-
a certain quantity of raisins, about 75 pounds (34 kilograms), contained in such a basket.
adjective
-
physically weak and delicate
-
fragile
a frail craft
-
easily corrupted or tempted
noun
-
a rush basket for figs or raisins
-
a quantity of raisins or figs equal to between 50 and 75 pounds
Sensitive Note
This term is sometimes perceived as insulting or condescending when used to refer to a woman, since it reinforces the stereotype of a weak female.
Synonym Usage
Frail, brittle, fragile imply a delicacy or weakness of substance or construction. Frail applies particularly to health and immaterial things: a frail constitution; frail hopes. Brittle implies a hard material that snaps or breaks to pieces easily: brittle as glass. Fragile implies that the object must be handled carefully to avoid breakage or damage: fragile bric-a-brac.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Adjectives
Etymology
Origin of frail1
First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English frail(e), frel(e), from Old French, from Latin fragilis fragile
Origin of frail2
First recorded 1300–50; Middle English frayel, fraelle, from Old French frayel; further origin unknown
Explanation
Something that is delicate and fragile can be described as frail. Grandma's favorite vase is probably too frail to use for football practice; some of us have learned that the hard way. Frail can also be used to describe a person's physical condition: "When I broke my grandmother's vase, she yelled in a voice so loud that it was hard to believe it was coming from her small, frail frame." Another way to use frail is in reference to a person's emotional state. As the poet Sylvia Plath astutely observed, "How frail the human heart must be."
Vocabulary lists containing frail
"All Summer in a Day" by Ray Bradbury
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"Thank You, M'am"
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The Things They Carried
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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:
During that time, people from every corner of the world online seemed to take every opportunity to scrutinize every contour of her frail frame.
From Salon ● Aug. 13, 2026
Their mother was mentally sharp but physically frail, barely able to walk to the mailbox and back, they told deputies.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 2, 2026
At a packed New York courtroom, the white-haired Zambada cut a frail figure as he was sentenced to life in prison and ordered to pay a $15 billion forfeiture.
From Barron's ● Jul. 20, 2026
Despite his frail health, he had been insisting that he would participate in Monday's march to the parliament.
From BBC ● Jul. 18, 2026
Those two people in that picture had been holding Cletus between them, frail as they were, ever since Cletus took his first breath.
From "Missing May" by Cynthia Rylant
As Wangchuk has grown visibly frailer, opposition leaders, activists, artists and musicians have already urged him to end his fast.
From BBC ● Jul. 16, 2026
That made it possible for older, frailer patients to survive with “mini-transplants.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 19, 2026
This previously manifested through mostly vibes-based measures: Does his voice sound a little frailer?
From Slate ● Jul. 18, 2025
For the oldest, the improvements were lost entirely, and they were frailer than those of the same age living in the prior decade, experts say.
From Science Daily ● Feb. 7, 2024
“There you are,” said Hodza, a handsome boy of Tendai’s age but of a frailer build.
From "The Ear, the Eye, and the Arm" by Nancy Farmer
In a long-term care system that subjects some of society’s frailest to daily indignities, Medicaid’s personal needs allowance, as the stipend is called, is among the most ubiquitous, yet least known.
From Seattle Times ● Mar. 15, 2023
They have needed fewer GP and hospital visits, but the biggest impact has been among some of the frailest patients.
From BBC ● Jan. 16, 2023
Unable to speak, Qawasmi, 24, is the frailest of the six.
From Reuters ● Nov. 10, 2021
But the frailest spot on the island remained catastrophically exposed: Home Farm, a 40-bed nursing home for people with dementia.
From New York Times ● May 25, 2020
The Uncle wrapped thick knitted blankets around them and gave them hot tea, although of the three of them, he looked the frailest and in need of a rest.
From "Witchlings" by Claribel A. Ortega
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.
