infirmity

[in-fur-mi-tee]

noun

plural

infirmities 

1. a physical weakness or ailment.

   the infirmities of age.

2. quality or state of being infirm; lack of strength.

3. a moral weakness or failing.

   Synonyms: fault, defect, flaw

infirmity

/ ɪnˈfɜːmɪtɪ /

noun

1. the state or quality of being infirm

2. physical weakness or debility; frailty

3. a moral flaw or failing

Other Word Forms

• superinfirmity noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of infirmity¹

1325–75; Middle English infirmite < Latin infirmitās. See infirm, -ity

Example Sentences

They refuse to accept the infirmities of previous generations without a struggle.

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Boxer, who turns 85 next month, offered no counsel to Pelosi, though she pushed back against the notion that age necessarily equates with infirmity, or political obsolescence.

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But these infirmities are not inevitable, and in recent years doctors have learned a lot more about how to prevent dementia.

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“Many people want to spin up a narrative of some big conspiracy at the White House to hide Joe Biden’s infirmity,” she wrote.

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Only after a cataclysmically bad debate performance, which revealed his infirmities for all to see, did Biden grudgingly stand aside in favor of his anointed successor, Vice President Kamala Harris.

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Related Words

• affliction 
• ailment 
• deficiency 
• frailty 
• ill health www.thesaurus.com
• imperfection 
• malady