What does the word frail mean

Slender and delicate; not robust; weak. A basket made of rushes, for packing figs, raisins, etc. Liable to fall from virtue or be led into sin ; not strong against temptation ; weak in resolution ; unchaste.

A basket made of rushes, used chiefly for containing figs and raisins. The quantity of raisins contained in a frail. A rush for weaving baskets. Easily tempted to do wrong; morally weak. Easily broken ; mentally or physically fragile ; not firm or durable ; liable to fail and perish ; easily destroyed ; not tenacious of life; weak ; infirm. Origin of frail.

From Old French fraile , from Latin fragilis. Cognate to fraction , fracture , and fragile. Frail Sentence Examples. In this way, ' frail elderly people' remained. A scale was developed, measuring the extent to which frail elderly people themselves express a need for living in such a home.

The assessment of preference weights for well, frail , and ill elderly individuals is necessary to evaluate potential differences for these populations.

Ethical issues and value conflicts facing case managers of frail elderly people living at home. Moving away from care practice, it has examined the usage of frail and frailty in the three locations. Any discussion of assisted-living for frail , isolated or sick older people must begin with the issue of definition and boundaries. There are, however, more ambivalent messages regarding the social isolation of tenants who are very frail , or for those with severe cognitive disorders.

Suddenly a frail -looking man with white hair and beard and blazing eyes slipped into the room. Instead of rejecting the concept of frailty, the women tended to speak of moments where they ' felt' frail.

Lastly, a principal carer is someone formally designated to handle an ill or frail older person's daily needs. These examples are from corpora and from sources on the web. Any opinions in the examples do not represent the opinion of the Cambridge Dictionary editors or of Cambridge University Press or its licensors. Translations of frail in Chinese Traditional.

See more. Need a translator? Translator tool. What is the pronunciation of frail? Browse fragmenting. Test your vocabulary with our fun image quizzes. Image credits. The by-now old and frail dog wags his tail to greet his master for whom he had patiently waited, and then promptly dies. Alma Hitchcock, the times I saw her, was a frail , birdlike woman who looked angry about her infirmity. He was old, frail and handcuffed; 20 minutes later they had a crime to cover up.

He opened his eyes and he held my hand with his so-very- frail one, veins showing blue through his skin. You start losing all this weight and looking gaunt and frail.

Omran, who was 17 at the time, was completely bald, weak, and as frail as a burnt match. I had no sooner stepped upon the frail structure when it suddenly and unaccountably gave way in the middle. Occasionally, over a narrow stream, a frail footbridge would be built. Her exquisite, frail beauty held a strength that mocked the worship in his eyes and voice. He brought us again to where the frail little woman determined to fight death with death. He was a narrow-headed man with frail -looking sloped shoulders and a thin triangle of face.