debility

de·bil·i·ty

noun \di-ˈbi-lə-tē, dē-\

plural de·bil·i·ties

Definition of DEBILITY

: weakness, infirmity

Examples of DEBILITY

1. The disease leads to debility but rarely kills.
2. the debilities of elderly people

Origin of DEBILITY

Middle English debilite, from Middle French debilité, from Latin debilitat-, debilitas, from debilis, from de- de- + -bilis; akin to Sanskrit bala strength

First Known Use: 15th century

Related to DEBILITY

Synonyms: asthenia, debilitation, weakness, delicacy, enervation, enfeeblement, faintness, feebleness, fragility, frailness, frailty, infirmity, languidness, languor, listlessness, lowness, wimpiness

Antonyms: hardihood, hardiness, robustness, strength, vigor

Related Words: decay, decrepitude; breakdown, collapse, prostration; exhaustion, fatigue, lassitude, weariness; defenselessness, helplessness, impotence, impuissance, powerlessness; effeteness, softness, tenderness; disablement, incapacitation, invalidism; damage, harm, hurt, impairment, injury

Near Antonyms: energy, vitality; brawniness, fitness, heftiness, huskiness, lustiness, muscularity, virility; hardness, ruggedness, stoutness, sturdiness, toughness; health, healthiness, soundness, wellness

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Rhymes with DEBILITY

ability, agility, anility, civility, docility, ductility, facility, fertility, fragility, futility, gentility, gracility, hostility, humility, lability, mobility, motility, nobility, nubility, scurrility, sectility, servility, stability, sterility, suability, tactility, utility, vagility, virility