What does frail mean?
Frail is an adjective describing a lack of physical strength or resilience, most often applied to people weakened by age, illness, or slight build, but equally used of objects that are easily broken and of arguments, hopes, or arrangements that seem unlikely to hold up under strain. Its connotations depend on context: applied to a person it tends to evoke sympathy and vulnerability, while applied to a plan or excuse it suggests unreliability and imminent failure. The word derives, via Old French, from the Latin fragilis, meaning 'easily broken', making it a close cousin of fragile and frangible. It is a useful word precisely because it bridges the physical and the abstract — a frail body, a frail bridge, and a frail peace treaty all share the sense of something that may not withstand what bears down on it. Common companion terms include its noun form frailty, denoting both physical weakness and inherent human imperfection.
Physically weak and delicate, especially as a result of age or illness; more broadly, lacking strength, substance, or reliability.
"Despite her frail condition, she insisted on attending her granddaughter's wedding."
When describing people, the word is best used with sensitivity, as it can sound diminishing in care settings.
A rush basket traditionally used for packing figs and raisins, or the quantity of fruit such a basket holds.
"The merchant ordered a hundred frails of Smyrna figs for the winter market."
This now-rare commercial sense appears mainly in historical trade records.
Applies only to the rare noun sense referring to baskets of dried fruit; the adjective itself has no plural form beyond ordinary inflection.
"The warehouse held dozens of frails stacked against the wall."
Frail traces straight back to the Latin fragilis — 'easily broken' — the very same root behind fragile, which is why a frail person and a fragile vase are, linguistically speaking, in the same boat.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of frail
The word comes from Old French fraile, borrowed into Middle English, and ultimately from the Latin fragilis, meaning 'easily broken'. This same Latin root gives us fragile, fragility, and frangible, all sharing the idea of breakability. A separate, now rare noun use of frail denotes a rush basket for packing figs and raisins, but this is unrelated in meaning to the familiar adjective. The derivative frailty extends the concept from bodily weakness to the broader idea of moral or human fallibility.
Related word forms
How frail is actually used
Standard in both formal and everyday English. Applied to people, it usually carries sympathetic connotations tied to age or illness, so it can feel clinical or patronising in medical or social-care contexts; phrases like "frail elderly" are common in those fields. When applied to arguments, excuses, or structures, it implies something likely to collapse under pressure.
Easily confused with frail
"Flail" means to wave the arms or legs wildly, or refers to a threshing tool or medieval weapon, whereas "frail" describes weakness or delicacy.