Word of the Day ·

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fragility

/fɹəˈd͡ʒɪlɪti/

noun

What it means

  1. countableuncountableThe condition or quality of being fragile; brittleness; frangibility.

    It is tempting to speculate about the incentives or compulsions that might explain why anyone would take to the skies in [the] basket [of a balloon]: […]; perhaps to moralise on the oneness or fragility of the planet, or to see humanity for the small and circumscribed thing that it is; […].

    2013 June 7, David Simpson, “Fantasy of navigation”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 188, number 26, page 36

    Synonyms: fragileness

  2. countableuncountableWeakness; feebleness.
  3. countableobsoleteuncountableLiability to error and sin; frailty.

In a sentence

It is tempting to speculate about the incentives or compulsions that might explain why anyone would take to the skies in [the] basket [of a balloon]: […]; perhaps to moralise on the oneness or fragility of the planet, or to see humanity for the small and circumscribed thing that it is; […].

2013 June 7, David Simpson, “Fantasy of navigation”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 188, number 26, page 36

Where it comes from

  1. Latinfragilitās
  2. Middle Frenchfragilité
  3. Englishfragility

Borrowed from Middle French fragilité, from Latin fragilitās. Doublet of frailty. Morphologically fragile + -ity.

Full entry for fragility →

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