fragile

Etymology

Borrowed from Middle French fragile, from Latin fragilis, formed on frag-, the root of frangere (“to break”). Cognate fraction, fracture and doublet of frail.

adj

  1. Easily broken or destroyed, and thus often of subtle or intricate structure.
    The chemist synthesizes a fragile molecule.
    The UN tries to maintain the fragile peace process in the region.
  2. (UK) Feeling weak or easily disturbed as a result of illness.
  3. (UK) Thin-skinned or oversensitive.
    He is a very fragile person and gets easily depressed.

noun

  1. Something that is fragile.

Attribution / Disclaimer All definitions come directly from Wiktionary using the Wiktextract library. We do not edit or curate the definitions for any words, if you feel the definition listed is incorrect or offensive please suggest modifications directly to the source (wiktionary/fragile), any changes made to the source will update on this page periodically.