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frailness

 - 4 dictionary results

frail

1  [freyl] adjective, -er, est.
Use frailness in a Sentence
1. having delicate health; not robust; weak: My grandfather is rather frail now.
2. easily broken or destroyed; fragile.
3. morally weak; easily tempted.
–noun
4. Older Slang: Sometimes Offensive. a girl or woman.
Origin:
1300–50; ME frail(e), frel(e) < OF < L fragilis fragile

Related forms:
frailly, adverb
frailness, noun

Synonyms:
1, 2. feeble; breakable, frangible. 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.

Antonyms:
1, 2. sturdy.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To frailness
frail 1   (frāl)   
adj.   frail·er, frail·est

  1. Physically weak; delicate: an invalid's frail body.

  2. Not strong or substantial; slight: evidence too frail to stand up in court.

  3. Easily broken or destroyed; fragile.

  4. Easily led astray; morally weak. See Synonyms at weak.


[Middle English frele, from Old French, from Latin fragilis, from frangere, frag-, to break; see bhreg- in Indo-European roots.]
frail'ly adv., frail'ness n.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Slang Dictionary
twist

and frail
  1. n.
    a girl; a woman. (Underworld. Possibly rhyming slang twist and twirl = girl and frail frame = dame. Detective novels and movies.) : This good-looking twist comes over to the table and asks Lefty if he'd like to dance. , I'll shoot the frail if you don't hand it over!
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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Word Origin & History

frail 
c.1340, "morally weak," from O.Fr. frele, from L. fragilis "easily broken" (see fragility). Sense of "liable to break" is first recorded in Eng. 1382. The U.S. slang noun meaning "a woman" is attested from 1908.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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