Debility
debility
Etymology
From Middle French débilité, from Latin dēbilitās, from dēbilis ("weak, feeble"), from dē- ("away from") + habilis ("able").
Pronunciation
- IPA: /dɪˈbɪl.ɪ.ti/
- Audio (US)
- Rhymes: -ɪlɪti
Noun
debility (countable and uncountable, plural debilities)
- Weakness; infirmity; a state of abnormal feebleness, especially of the body.
- He suffered from general debility.
- (medicine) A condition of reduced vitality or diminished bodily strength; languor.
- The patient's debility made recovery slow and uncertain.
- (figurative) A weakening or impairment of will, resolve, or capacity.
- Years of hardship had produced a moral debility from which the community struggled to recover.
Synonyms
- weakness
- infirmity
- feebleness
- frailty
- enfeeblement
- languor
- asthenia (medical)