Standard Lemma guide

infirmity

noun · 3 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • Received-Pronunciation: /ɪnˈfɜːmɪti/
  • General-American: /ɪnˈfɜɹməti/
  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • CMU ARPABET: IH0 N F ER1 M IH0 T IY0 Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

Feebleness, frailty or ailment, especially due to old age.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

Examples

  • physical infirmity
  • mental infirmity
  • suffer from an infirmity
  • He bore the weight of old age and physical infirmity.
  • Despite her infirmity, she remained mentally sharp.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: caducity

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

A moral weakness or defect.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

the state of being weak in health or body (especially from old age)

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: frailty, debility, feebleness, frailness, valetudinarianism

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: unfitness, softness

Narrower terms: asthenia, astheny, cachexia, cachexy, wasting

History

Etymology

Etymology tree English infirm Proto-Indo-European *-teh2 Proto-Indo-European *-ts Proto-Indo-European *-teh2ts Latin -itāsder. Old French -itebor. Middle English -ite English -ity English infirmity From infirm + -ity.

Across languages

Translations

27 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Bulgarian: слабост (slabost) — feebleness
  • Bulgarian: немощ (nemošt) — feebleness
  • Ngazidja Comorian: urewe — feebleness
  • Finnish: raihnaisuus — feebleness
  • Finnish: vanhuudenheikkous — feebleness
  • French: infirmité — feebleness
  • German: Gebrechlichkeit — feebleness
  • Gothic: 𐌿𐌽𐌷𐌰𐌹𐌻𐌹 (unhaili) — feebleness
  • Greek: αδυναμία (adynamía) — feebleness
  • Greek: αναπηρία (anapiría) — feebleness
  • Hindi: दुर्बलता (durbaltā) — feebleness
  • Hindi: अशक्तता (aśaktatā) — feebleness
  • Latin: debilitas — feebleness
  • Latin: infirmitas — feebleness
  • Latin: infirmitas — feebleness
  • Manx: neufondid — feebleness
  • Manx: asslaynt — feebleness
  • Manx: meillid — feebleness
  • Māori: tārututanga — feebleness
  • Romanian: infirmitate — feebleness
  • Romanian: debilitate — feebleness
  • Sanskrit: रपस् (rapas) — feebleness
  • Spanish: enfermedad — feebleness
  • Swedish: skröplighet — feebleness
  • Swedish: bräcklighet — feebleness
  • Ottoman Turkish: درمانسزلق (dermansızlık) — feebleness
  • Ottoman Turkish: ضعیفلق (zaʼiflık) — feebleness