mid-14c., "morally weak," from Old French fraile, frele "weak, frail, sickly, infirm" (12c., Modern French frêle), from Latin fragilis "easily broken" (see fragility). It is the Frenchified form of fragile. Sense of "easily destroyed, liable to break" in English is from late 14c. The U.S. slang noun meaning "a woman" is attested from 1908; perhaps with awareness of Shakespeare's "Frailty, thy name is woman."
权威例句
1. The frail craft rocked as he clambered in.
他爬进来的时候,那件易碎的工艺品摇晃起来。
2. Mother was becoming too frail to live alone.
母亲已逐渐衰弱到无法独居。
3. The boy was frail and never ganged with his fellows at school.
这个男孩身体虚弱,从不和同学们一起玩.
4. My grandmother was becoming more and more sad and frail as the years went by.
【invalid, crisp, fragile, brittle, frail】
这组词都有“弱”的意思,其区别是:
invalid: a.不正确的,缺乏证据的;无效的,作废的。作名词时,表示病弱者,伤残者,久病者。
• Your ideas about the first humans are interesting but invalid. 你关于最早的人类的观点很有意思,但是缺乏证据。
• A bad car accident made him an invalid. 一次严重的车祸使他变成了残疾。
crisp: a.指食品的松脆;清新的,爽快的;活跃的,有生气的,干净利落的。
• crisp biscuit 松脆的饼干
• The student gave a clear, crisp answer to the teacher's question. 学生干净利落地回答了老师的问题。
fragile: a.常常修饰使用时必须小心才不会破碎的东西,也引申为体弱的,虚弱的。
• He 's feeling a bit fragile after last night's party. 他参加了昨晚的聚会以后,现在感觉有些虚弱。
brittle: a.易碎的,易损坏的,通常是指坚硬的东西。
• The bones of elderly people become brittle and easily broken. 老年人的骨头变得脆弱,很容易骨折。
frail: a. (指人)体弱的,虚弱的,也可以指东西易碎的。
• His mother has grown old and frail. 他母亲已经年老体弱。