frag·ile

[fraj-uhl; British fraj-ahyl]
adjective
1.
easily broken, shattered, or damaged; delicate; brittle; frail: a fragile ceramic container; a very fragile alliance.
2.
vulnerably delicate, as in appearance: She has a fragile beauty.
3.
lacking in substance or force; flimsy: a fragile excuse.
Origin:
1505–15; < Latin fragilis, equivalent to frag- (variant stem of frangere to break) + -ilis -ile

Related forms
frag·ile·ly, adverb
fra·gil·i·ty [fruh-jil-i-tee] , frag·ile·ness, noun
non·frag·ile, adjective
non·frag·ile·ly, adverb
non·frag·ile·ness, noun
non·fra·gil·i·ty, noun
o·ver·frag·ile, adjective
un·frag·ile, adjective

Can be confused: brittle, fragile, frail (see synonym study at frail).

Synonyms
1. See frail1.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Fragile is always a great word to know.
So is flibbertigibbet. Does it mean:
a chattering or flighty, light-headed person.
the offspring of a zebra and a donkey.
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Collins
World English Dictionary
fragile (ˈfrædʒaɪl) [Click for IPA pronunciation guide]
 
—adj
1.  able to be broken easily
2.  in a weakened physical state
3.  delicate; light: a fragile touch
4.  slight; tenuous: a fragile link with the past
 
[C17: from Latin fragilis, from frangere to break]
 
'fragilely
 
—adv
 
fragility
 
—n
 
fragileness
 
—n

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History

fragile
1510s as "liable to sin;" c.1600 as "liable to break;" from Fr. fragile (14c.), from L. fragilis (see fragility).
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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Slang Dictionary

fragile

adj. Syn brittle.
Jargon
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FOLDOC
Computing Dictionary

fragile definition


brittle

The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing, © Denis Howe 2010 http://foldoc.org
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Example sentences
The problem is that, while this system is undeniably more efficient, it's also
  much more fragile.
The world economy is still fragile but far more stable than it was six months
  ago.
The only thing cap and trade would do is destroy an already fragile economy by
  skyrocketing energy costs.
Our lives already rely on fragile information networks, and will soon be
  constantly recorded.
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