INFIRM DEFINITIONS - 11 definitions found
infirm adj 1: lacking bodily or muscular strength or vitality; "a feeble old woman"; "her body looked sapless" [syn: decrepit, debile, feeble, infirm, rickety, sapless, weak, weakly] 2: lacking firmness of will or character or purpose; "infirm of purpose; give me the daggers" - Shakespeare Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, 11th Edition (2003) infirm adjective Etymology: Middle English, from Latin infirmus, from in- + firmus firm Date: 14th century 1. of poor or deteriorated vitality; especially feeble from age 2. weak of mind, will, or character ; irresolute, vacillating 3. not solid or stable ; insecure Synonyms: see weak • infirmly adverb Oxford English Reference Dictionary
Collins COBUILD Advanced Learner\'s English Dictionary infirm A person who is infirm is weak or ill, and usually old. (FORMAL) ...her aging, infirm husband. ADJ • The infirm are people who are infirm. We are here to protect and assist the weak and infirm. N-PLURAL: the N • infirmity (infirmities) In spite of his age and infirmity, he still writes plays and novels... N-VAR English Explanatory Dictionary infirm ɪnˈfə:m adj. 1 physically weak, esp. through age. 2 (of a person, mind, judgement, etc.) weak, irresolute. øøinfirmity n. (pl. -ies). infirmly adv. [ME f. L infirmus (as IN-(1), FIRM(1))] Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) Infirm \In*firm"\, v. t. [L. infirmare : cf. F. infirmer.] To weaken; to enfeeble. [Obs.] --Sir W. Raleigh. Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) Infirm \In*firm"\ ([i^]n*f[~e]rm"), a. [L. infirmus: cf. F. infirme. See In- not, and Firm, a.] 1. Not firm or sound; weak; feeble; as, an infirm body; an infirm constitution. A poor, infirm, weak, and despised old man. --Shak. 2. Weak of mind or will; irresolute; vacillating. ``An infirm judgment.'' --Burke. Infirm of purpose! --Shak. 3. Not solid or stable; insecure; precarious. He who fixes on false principles treads or infirm ground. --South. Syn: Debilitated; sickly; feeble; decrepit; weak; enfeebled; irresolute; vacillating; imbecile. Soule\'s Dictionary of English Synonyms infirm a. 1. Weak, feeble, enfeebled, frail, weakened, debilitated. 2. Irresolute, vacillating, wavering, faltering. 3. Insecure, unstable, unsound. English Explanatory Dictionary (Synonyms) infirm ɪnˈfə:m adj. 1 ill, indisposed, debilitated, frail, fragile, weak, feeble, weakened, ailing, decrepit, enfeebled, failing, wasted, on the decline, sick, sickly, unwell, lame, crippled: Campbell is infirm and unable to travel. 2 shaky, flimsy, wobbly, wobbling, doddering, unstable, faltering, vacillating, wavering, unsteady, unsteadfast, inconstant, changeable, irresolute: We must find stalwart recruits, recruits who are not infirm of purpose. Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 202 Moby Thesaurus words for "infirm": Adamic, abulic, adrift, afloat, afraid, ailing, alternating, amorphous, anile, backsliding, cachectic, capricious, carnal, changeable, changeful, cowardly, crabbed, crippled, crumbling, dangerous, debilitated, decrepit, desultory, deviable, disintegrating, dizzy, doddered, doddering, doddery, drained, eccentric, enervated, enfeebled, erratic, erring, exhausted, failing, faint, fainthearted, fallen, faltering, fast and loose, feeble, feebleminded, fickle, fitful, fleshly, flickering, flighty, flimsy, flitting, fluctuating, fossilized, fragile, frail, freakish, gerontal, gerontic, giddy, hazardous, healthless, ill, impetuous, impulsive, impure, in poor health, inconsistent, inconstant, indecisive, indisposed, insecure, insubstantial, invalid, invertebrate, irregular, irresolute, irresponsible, lame, languishing, lapsed, mazy, mercurial, moody, moribund, mossbacked, moth-eaten, mummylike, of easy virtue, on the decline, pale, palsied, papery-skinned, peaked, peaky, peccable, perilous, pliable, poor, poorish, postlapsarian, precarious, prodigal, provisional, rambling, ravaged with age, recidivist, recidivistic, reduced, reduced in health, restless, rickety, risky, rotten, rotten at, roving, run to seed, run-down, rusty, scatterbrained, senile, shaky, shapeless, shifting, shifty, shriveled, shuffling, sick, sickly, slippery, soft, spasmodic, spineless, stricken in years, temporary, tentative, ticklish, timeworn, tottering, tottery, treacherous, unaccountable, unangelic, uncertain, unchaste, unclean, uncontrolled, undependable, undisciplined, unfaithworthy, unfirm, unfixed, ungodly, ungood, unhealthy, unpredictable, unreliable, unrestrained, unrighteous, unsaintly, unsettled, unsolid, unsound, unstable, unstable as water, unstaid, unsteadfast, unsteady, unsturdy, unsubstantial, unsure, untrustworthy, unvirtuous, unwell, vacillating, vagrant, valetudinarian, valetudinary, variable, vicissitudinary, vicissitudinous, virtueless, volatile, wandering, wanton, wasted, wavering, wavery, wavy, wayward, weak, weak-kneed, weak-minded, weak-willed, weakened, weakly, whimsical, wishy-washy, with low resistance, withered, wizened, wobbling, wobbly |
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