frailty

[ freyl-tee, frey-uhl- ]

/ ˈfreɪl ti, ˈfreɪ əl- /

the quality or state of being frail.

moral weakness; liability to yield to temptation.

a fault resulting from moral weakness: frailties of the human flesh.

Origin of frailty

1300–50; Middle English frailte, frelete < Old French frailete < Latin fragilitāt- (stem of fragilitās). See frail¹, -ity

1 delicacy, weakness, fragility.

2 susceptibility, suggestibility.

3 flaw, defect.

o·ver·frail·ty, noun

For many seniors, driving represents the difference between isolation and the frailty spiral.

A 100-Year-Old-Driver Crashes into School Kids. Time to Take Grandpa’s Car Keys? |Jamie Reno |August 31, 2012 |DAILY BEAST
“This can then lead to inactivity, which can lead to frailty, then to ill health,” she says.

A 100-Year-Old-Driver Crashes into School Kids. Time to Take Grandpa’s Car Keys? |Jamie Reno |August 31, 2012 |DAILY BEAST
These Republicans still frighten voters with visions of an old age in poverty and frailty.

Is Paul Ryan Delusional? |Jack W. Germond |April 28, 2011 |DAILY BEAST
We know too much now about the hollowness of institutions and the frailty of their leaders.

The Naked Truth |Tina Brown |February 18, 2009 |DAILY BEAST

This is one of those forms of common speech, that proves the frailty and the presumption of poor mortal at the same time.

Clarissa, Volume 7 |Samuel Richardson
Once upon a time there was a peer who knew the frailty of unennobled man.

Punch, Or The London Charivari, Vol. 146., January 21, 1914 |Various
Her frailty, which one can see is caused by consumption in its early stages, makes her beauty the more appealing to Rudolph.

The Complete Opera Book |Gustav Kobb
In the spirit of this anecdote we should expect an archbishop to be as orthodox as the frailty of human nature will allow.

Arrows of Freethought |George W. Foote
The first multiplieth endeavour, the second preventeth error, and the third supplieth the frailty of man.

The Advancement of Learning |Francis Bacon

frailty

/ (ˈfreɪltɪ) /

physical or moral weakness

(often plural) a fault symptomatic of moral weakness