fragility

frag·ile

 (frăj′əl, -īl′)

adj.

1. Easily broken, damaged, or destroyed.

2. Lacking physical or emotional strength; delicate: a fragile personality.

3. Lacking substance; tenuous or flimsy: a fragile claim to fame.

---

[French, from Old French, from Latin fragilis, from frangere, frag-, to break; see bhreg- in Indo-European roots.]

---

frag′ile·ly adv.

fra·gil′i·ty (frə-jĭl′ĭ-tē), frag′ile·ness n.

Synonyms: fragile, breakable, frangible, flimsy, brittle
These adjectives mean easily broken or damaged. Fragile applies to objects that are not made of strong or sturdy material and that require great care when handled: fragile porcelain plates.
Breakable and frangible mean capable of being broken but do not necessarily imply inherent weakness: breakable toys; frangible bullets designed to break apart on impact.
Flimsy refers to what is easily broken because of inferior materials or workmanship: "Flimsy and loosely built structures collapsed like houses of cards under the terrific wrenching and shaking" (Richard L. Humphrey).
Brittle refers to inelasticity that makes something especially likely to fracture or snap when it is subjected to pressure: brittle bones. See Also Synonyms at weak.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

fra•gil•i•ty

(frəˈdʒɪl ɪ ti)
n.

the quality of being fragile; weakness; delicacy.

[1470–80]

Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.

Fragility

 

See Also: WEAKNESS

1. As thin of substance as the air —William Shakespeare
2. (Laughter … as) delicate and frail as new ice —Frederick Barthelme
3. (She was) delicate as a pig was not —Pat Conroy
4. Bones frail as a small bird’s —George Garrett
5. Brittle as a dead tree —George Garrett
6. Brittle as dry wood —Miller Williams
7. Brittle as glass that breaks with a touch —Algernon Charles Swinburne
8. Brittle as straw —Ellen Glasgow
9. Brittle as twigs —Margaret Atwood
10. (Her own body seemed) fragile and empty like blown glass —Margaret Atwood
11. Fragile and rather beautiful, like a rare kind of mosquito —Lawrence Durrell
12. Fragile as a bird’s egg —George Garrett
13. Fragile as a chrysalis —John Updike
14. Fragile as a coquillage bouquet —Truman Capote

    Capote’s simile refers to Isak Dinesen.

15. Fragile as a cup —Reynolds Price
16. (Shoulder) fragile as a little bit of glass —Eudora Welty
17. Fragile as ancient lace or parchment —George Garrett
18. Fragile as a reed —Cornelia Otis Skinner
19. (Her conical breasts look) fragile as birds’ eggs —R. V. Cassill
20. Fragile as snowflakes —Sharon Sheehe Stark
21. (She felt very weak and her plump body seemed, somehow, flat and) fragile, like a pressed leaf between the sheets —Helen Hudson
22. Fragile … like a spider’s web —John Fowles
23. Fragile like her good intentions —Marguerite Yourcenar
24. Fragile, like the skin on scalded milk —Sharon Sheehe Stark
25. Frail as a blade of grass —Belva Plain
26. (She felt as) frail as a cobweb —Jonathan Kellerman
27. Frail as a fading friendship —Anon
28. Frail as antique earthenware —Sylvia Plath

    Plath’s simile describes the occupants of an old ladies’ home.

29. Frail as April snow —Wallace Stevens
30. (Breasts rising) frail as blisters —Sharon Olds
31. Frail as flesh —Laman Blanchard
32. [School boys] frail, like thin-boned fledgling birds clamoring for food —Sylvia Berkman
33. I feel [fragile] like a poppy; one gust of wind and everything will blow away —Carla Lane, dialogue, “Solo,” British sitcom, broadcast June 23, 1987

    The reason the character in Lane’s script feels so fragile is that she is a woman in her fifties in a relationship with a much younger man.

34. I felt like a moth hanging on the windowpane —Jacqueline Kennedy, Newsweek, January 21, 1961

    The occasion being described was her first night in the White House.

35. Insubstantial … like fake wedding cakes in a bakery window —lots of whipped cream rosettes and garlands surrounding a hollow middle —Michiko Kakutani, New York Times
36. Like a dry leaf closed into a book, he seemed frail and ready to crumble —Arthur A. Cohen
37. More frail than the shadows on glasses —Algernon Charles Swinburne
38. Promise as solid as a bundle of water —Hindu proverb
39. (Hair and garments) tenuous as gauze —W. D. Snodgrass
40. (You’re so old) you’re like a cup I could break in my hand —Paule Marshall

Similes Dictionary, 1st Edition. © 1988 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.

Thesaurus

Noun	1.	fragility - quality of being easily damaged or destroyed breakability, frangibility, frangibleness vulnerability - susceptibility to injury or attack
	2.	fragility - lack of physical strength delicacy weakness - the property of lacking physical or mental strength; liability to failure under pressure or stress or strain; "his weakness increased as he became older"; "the weakness of the span was overlooked until it collapsed"

Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2012 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.

fragility

noun

1. vulnerability, weakness, instability, insecurity, precariousness the extreme fragility of the Right-wing coalition

2. weakness, delicacy, frailty, infirmity, feebleness, brittleness, frangibility seriously injured because of the fragility of their bones

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

fragility

noun

The condition of being infirm or physically weak:

debility, decrepitude, delicacy, delicateness, feebleness, flimsiness, fragileness, frailness, frailty, infirmity, insubstantiality, puniness, unsoundness, unsubstantiality, weakliness, weakness.

The American Heritage® Roget's Thesaurus. Copyright © 2013, 2014 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Translations

هَشاشَه، سُرْعَة الإنْكِسار

křehkost

skrøbelighed

FragilitätZerbrechlichkeit

haurausheikkous

fragilité

brothætta

fragilit...fragilitàgracilità

spinkelhet

kolayca kırılmanarinlik

易碎性

fragility

[frəˈdʒɪlɪtɪ] N

1. (= breakable nature) [of object] → fragilidad f

2. (= delicacy, fineness) [of plant, beauty, person] → delicadeza f

3. (= frailty) [of person] → debilidad f; [of health] → precariedad f

4. (= instability) [of relationship] → fragilidad f, precariedad f

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

fragility

[frəˈdʒɪlɪti] n → fragilité f

[bones, china, glass] → fragilité f

[peace, alliance, friendship] → fragilité f

[person] (physical) → fragilité f; (emotional) → fragilité f

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

fragility

n (of glass, china, object) → Zerbrechlichkeit f; (of beauty, skin, child) → Zartheit f; (of fabric) → Feinheit f; (of elderly person) → Gebrechlichkeit f; (of health) → Zartheit f, → Anfälligkeit f; (of situation) → Unsicherheit f; (of peace, ceasefire) → Brüchigkeit f; (of mental state, economy) → Labilität f; (of government, democracy) → geschwächter Zustand

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

fragility

[frəˈdʒɪlɪtɪ] n → fragilità

Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

fragile

(ˈfrӕdʒail) , ((American) ˈfradʒəl) adjective

easily broken. a fragile glass vase. breekbaar سريع الإنْكِسار، هَش чуплив frágil křehký zerbrechlich skrøbelig εύθραυστοςfrágil kergesti purunev, habras شکستنی hauras fragileשברירי भंगुर, नाजुक loman, krhak törékeny rapuh brothættur fragile こわれやすい 깨지기 쉬운 trapus trausls; plīstošs mudah pecah breekbaarskjør, spinkel, sprøkruchy نازك، ژرماتېدونكى، كمزورى،نحيف، لطيف frágil fragil хрупкий krehký krhek lomljiv bräcklig, ömtålig, skör เปราะแตกง่าย kolay kırılır, kırılgan 易碎的 крихкий; ламкий باآسانی ٹوٹنے والا mỏng manh; dễ vỡ 易碎的

fraˈgility (-ˈdʒi-) noun

breekbaarheid هَشاشَه، سُرْعَة الإنْكِسار чупливост fragilidade křehkost die Zerbrechlichkeit skrøbelighed ευθραυστότητα fragilidad haprus سستی hauraus fragilité שְׁבִירוּת भंगुरता lomnost, krhkost törékenység kerapuhan brothætta fragilità もろさ 깨지기 쉬움 trapumas trauslums mudah pecah breekbaarheidskjørhet, spinkelhet kruchość نازكى، كمزورى fragilidade fragilitate хрупкость krehkosť krhkost lomljivost bräcklighet การเปราะแตกง่าย kolayca kırılma, narinlik 易碎性 крихкість, ламкість نازکی tính mỏng manh; sự yếu ớt 易碎性

Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary © 2006-2013 K Dictionaries Ltd.

fra·gil·i·ty

n. fragilidad, con disposición a romperse o quebrarse con facilidad.

English-Spanish Medical Dictionary © Farlex 2012