- 1easily broken or damaged fragile china/glass/bones Be careful not to drop it; it’s very fragile. Oxford Collocations Dictionary verbsbe, become, feel, … adverbextremely, fairly, very, … See full entry
- 2weak and uncertain; easily destroyed or spoilt a fragile alliance/ceasefire/relationship The economy remains extremely fragile. In her job she was used to dealing with actors’ fragile egos. fragile habitats threatened by pollution Oxford Collocations Dictionary verbsbe, become, feel, … adverbextremely, fairly, very, … See full entry
- 3delicate and often beautiful fragile beauty The woman's fragile face broke into a smile. Oxford Collocations Dictionary verbsbe, become, feel, … adverbextremely, fairly, very, … See full entry
- 4not strong and likely to become ill/sick Her father is now 86 and in fragile health. (British English, informal) I'm feeling a bit fragile after last night (= not well, perhaps because of drinking too much alcohol). Oxford Collocations Dictionary verbsbe, become, feel, … adverbextremely, fairly, very, … See full entry See related entries: Poor health, Being ill Word Originlate 15th cent. (in the sense ‘morally weak’): from Latin fragilis, from frangere ‘to break’. The sense ‘liable to break’ dates from the mid 16th cent.
fragile
adjectiveBrE BrE//ˈfrædʒaɪl//; NAmE NAmE//ˈfrædʒl//
Poor health, Being illCheck pronunciation: fragile
