debilitate
Americanverb (used with object)
-
debilitates,
present (3rd person singular)
-
debilitated,
past participle, past
-
debilitating
present participle
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
-
debilitantnoun
-
debilitationnoun
-
overdebilitateverb (used with object)
-
debilitativeadjective
-
nondebilitatingadjective
-
nondebilitativeadjective
-
undebilitatedadjective
-
undebilitatingadjective
-
undebilitativeadjective
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
debilitatesimple
-
debilitatessimple
-
have debilitatedperfect
-
has debilitatedperfect
-
am debilitatingprogressive
-
are debilitatingprogressive
-
is debilitatingprogressive
-
have been debilitatingperfect progressive
-
has been debilitatingperfect progressive
Past
-
debilitatedsimple
-
had debilitatedperfect
-
was debilitatingprogressive
-
were debilitatingprogressive
-
had been debilitatingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of debilitate
First recorded in 1525–35; from Latin dēbilitātus (past participle of dēbilitāre ), equivalent to dēbilit-, stem of dēbilis “weak” + -ātus -ate 1
Explanation
To debilitate something is to make it weaker. A bad flu may debilitate your powers of concentration, like the New Year's resolutions that temporarily debilitate bakeries' business. The verb debilitate traces back to the Latin word debilis, meaning “lame, disabled, crippled.” It’s often used to describe what disability or illness does to a person's health, but it can describe anything that has been weakened, like the sense of community that is slowly debilitated by people working longer hours and the lack of sidewalks that in many towns make it harder to walk around and meet the neighbors.
Vocabulary lists containing debilitate
100 SAT Words Beginning with "D"
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
"Flag" Day Words
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
UCPS 6th Grade Roots List #3
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
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:
Both brothers died of Hungtington’s disease, a genetic disorder that began to severely debilitate them during their 30s.
From Salon ● Aug. 17, 2025
Surrender to dissidents and allow a small group of extremists to debilitate his office.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 3, 2023
But new evidence suggests a bone disease that can debilitate modern cats and dogs, and even some of their humans, may have also played a role.
From New York Times ● Jul. 12, 2023
But such remarks debilitate and isolate students, making them feel as if they don’t belong in an area where they should feel welcomed.
From Seattle Times ● May 14, 2023
He needed to be better about that, about letting the nightmares debilitate him.
From "Beasts of Prey" by Ayana Gray
Ultimately, the goal is to identify potential genetic targets to treat or even cure the chronic metabolic disease that affects and sometimes debilitates more than 400 million adults worldwide, according to the International Diabetes Federation.
From Science Daily ● Feb. 19, 2024
The more the gestation progresses, the more her mind debilitates.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 9, 2023
For this Global Reach Challenge, Sir Ranulph will have to overcome vertigo and Cheyne-Stokes, a condition which debilitates his breathing above 16,000 feet.
From BBC ● Jul. 15, 2016
It debilitates me to think that my actions have caused her emotional and physical stress that is completely unwarranted and unfair.
From The Guardian ● Jun. 7, 2016
It debilitates the brain and nervous system, thus inducing epileptic fits and nervous depression.
From Advice to a Mother on the Management of Her Children by Pye Henry Chavasse
It has effectively debilitated us from being able to enforce it in most contexts we’ve used it in in the past.
From Slate ● Apr. 30, 2026
Too much of it, alas, is spent recalling now dead or sadly debilitated family and friends.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 9, 2026
Yet Germany's military remains in a debilitated state - less battle-ready, we are told, than three years ago.
From BBC ● Feb. 20, 2025
Engineered stone companies are facing a torrent of lawsuits from workers debilitated by silicosis.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 21, 2024
And the other four Sherpas on our team were too cold and debilitated from having gone to the summit.
From "Into Thin Air" by Jon Krakauer
Speaking to The Wall Street Journal, she described the debilitating nature of her obsessive-compulsive disorder, revealing that she was “barely” able to function when the condition was at its worst.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 2, 2026
Drafted in the fifth round by the Philadelphia Eagles, Hardy sustained a debilitating knee injury soon after joining the team.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 26, 2026
The crisis was intensified by a debilitating leadership tussle.
From BBC ● Aug. 20, 2026
"We believe vaccination has the potential to provide an important new layer of protection against this debilitating disease," Pfizer's chief vaccines officer, Annaliesa Anderson, said in a joint statement.
From Barron's ● Aug. 14, 2026
In the first he was attacked by phantoms and a great wind, and he had some sort of debilitating weakness on one side of his body.
From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton
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.
