Adjacent Words

Infirm definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

INFIRM, a. inferm'. [L. infirmus; in and firmus.]
1. Not firm or sound; weak; feeble; as an infirm body; an infirm constitution.
2. Weak of mind; irresolute; as infirm of purpose.
3. Not solid or stable.
He who fixes on false principles, treads on infirm ground.
INFIRM, v.t. inferm'. To weaken. [Not used.]

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

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

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 Reference Dictionary

adj. 1 physically weak, esp. through age. 2 (of a person, mind, judgement, etc.) weak, irresolute. Derivatives: infirmity n. (pl. -ies). infirmly adv. Etymology: ME f. L infirmus (as IN-(1), FIRM(1))

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Infirm In*firm", v. t. [L. infirmare : cf. F. infirmer.] To weaken; to enfeeble. [Obs.] --Sir W. Raleigh.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

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.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

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

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

a. 1. Weak, feeble, enfeebled, frail, weakened, debilitated. 2. Irresolute, vacillating, wavering, faltering. 3. Insecure, unstable, unsound.

Moby Thesaurus

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