frail
1 Americanadjective
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:
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
“People have a very difficult time putting themselves in their own future, in their more frail bodies,” Geber said.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 12, 2026
She’s more frail than she once was, and recently battled a bout of pneumonia that hospitalized her.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 29, 2026
Indeed he did have a face like a child, and such frail bones that after four weeks’ pack-carrying he already had flat feet.
From "All Quiet on the Western Front: A Novel" by Erich Maria Remarque
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
All three can also be self-reinforcing over time: people who are lonely and socially isolated may become frailer, and as they become frailer, their sense of isolation and loneliness grows.
From Science Daily ● Nov. 14, 2024
It raises questions of the drug's "real-world" effectiveness in older, frailer people with multiple health conditions, and even "mixed" dementia which could be part Alzheimer's and part another disease.
From BBC ● Aug. 23, 2024
When she returned to us in January, Grandma was even frailer, and she needed to be on oxygen all the time.
From "Courage to Soar" by Simone Biles
These tend to be the sickest and frailest patient - and this wait comes after they have already waited to be seen in the first place after arriving at A&E.
From BBC ● Feb. 15, 2024
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
Most of the frailest and oldest survivors contacted have refused to leave home.
From New York Times ● Apr. 29, 2022
Unable to speak, Qawasmi, 24, is the frailest of the six.
From Reuters ● Nov. 10, 2021
No thread, no frailest hair between myself and the universal clutter!
From "Grendel" by John Gardner
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.
