Fragile

//ˈfɹæd͡ʒəl// adj, noun

adj, noun ·Common ·High school level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    Something that is fragile.
Adjective
  1. 1
    Easily broken, not sturdy; of delicate material.

    "She caught the fragile vase before it could shatter on the floor."

  2. 2
    Readily disrupted or destroyed. figuratively

    "The UN tries to maintain the fragile peace process in the region."

  3. 3
    Feeling weak or easily disturbed as a result of illness. UK
  4. 4
    Thin-skinned or oversensitive. UK

    "He is a very fragile person and gets easily depressed."

Adjective
  1. 1
    vulnerably delicate wordnet
  2. 2
    easily broken or damaged or destroyed wordnet
  3. 3
    lacking substance or significance wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
breakabledelicatefriabletenuousbreakablebreakly

Example

More examples

"These fragile items must be insured against all risks."

Etymology

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

Related phrases

fragile X syndromefragile masculinitywarmblood fragile foal syndrome

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.