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Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.

enfeeble en · VERB

Pronunciation

  • (Southern-England) audio
  • /ɪnˈfiːbəl/

Etymology

From Middle English enfeblen, from Old French enfeblir. Constructed like en- + feeble.

Meanings

  1. (transitive) To make feeble.
    • In the face of enfeebled, self-harming opposition on both sides of the border (and a miserable economic recession on both sides too) he has performed brilliantly. 2014 September 8, Michael White, “Roll up, roll up! The Amazing Salmond will show a Scotland you won't believe”, in The Guardian:
    • 1774, Dr Samuel Johnson, Preface to the Works of the English Poets, J. Nichols, Volume II, Page 130, "...the gout, with which he had long been tormented, prevailed over the enfeebled powers of nature."
    • The Republican-appointed justices may yet enfeeble the executive branch’s ability to implement federal law. 2022 January 13, Mark Joseph Stern, “The Supreme Court Had No Legal Reason to Block Biden’s Workplace Vaccine Rules”, in Slate:

Forms

SpellingFeaturesLabelsSource
infeeble alternative lexicographic
enfeebling Tense=Pres, VerbForm=Part lexicographic
enfeebled Tense=Past, VerbForm=Part lexicographic
enfeebled Tense=Past lexicographic
enfeebles Number=Sing, Person=3, Tense=Pres lexicographic

Deriveds

enfeeblement · enfeebler

Synonyms

weaken

Translations (13)

ga anbhainnigh (make feeble) · gd lagaich (make feeble) · fr affaiblir (make feeble) · enm enfeblen (make feeble) · es debilitar (make feeble) · ru осла́бить (make feeble) · mi whakaiwikore (make feeble) · fi heikentää (make feeble) · ga díneartaigh (make feeble) · de schwächen (make feeble) · ru ослабля́ть (make feeble) · cmn 削弱 (make feeble) · enm feblen (make feeble)