- Easily broken, damaged, or destroyed; frail.
- Lacking physical or emotional strength; delicate.
- Lacking substance; tenuous or flimsy: a fragile claim to fame.
[French, from Old French, from Latin fragilis, from frangere, frag-, to break.]
fragilely frag'ile·ly adv.fragility fra·gil'i·ty (frə-jĭl'ĭ-tē) or frag'ile·ness n.
SYNONYMS fragile, breakable, frangible, delicate, brittle. These adjectives mean easily broken or damaged. Fragile applies to objects that are not made of strong or sturdy material and that require great care when handled: fragile porcelain plates. Breakable and frangible mean capable of being broken but do not necessarily imply inherent weakness: breakable toys; frangible artifacts. Delicate refers to what is so soft, tender, or fine as to be susceptible to injury: delicate fruit. Brittle refers to inelasticity that makes something especially likely to fracture or snap when it is subjected to pressure: brittle bones. See also synonyms at weak.




