enfeeble
verb
transitive verb
Synonyms
- debilitate
- devitalize
- enervate
- etiolate
- prostrate
- sap
- soften
- tire
- waste
- weaken
Example Sentences
New York Times, 5 July 2022 How, in other words, fear and neglect, rather than the waywardness Vogel rails against, are what really enfeeble the mind. Los Angeles Times, 26 May 2022 The goal is to blunt criticism and enfeeble the opposition. Michael Hiltzik, Los Angeles Times, 24 Feb. 2021 The move may, in effect, enfeeble America's technology sector and, worse yet, leave the root problem—investigating terrorism, child predation, and criminality—unresolved as wrongdoers flock to alternative products. Robert Hackett, Fortune, 29 June 2020 India entered its sixth week of a stringent nationwide lockdown on Tuesday, pushing an economy already enfeebled before the pandemic to the brink of collapse. Fox News, 12 May 2020 Whatever the truth, the risk is the Anwar and Azmin camps wear each other down and enfeeble the Pakatan Harapan alliance, which Mahathir chairs. Washington Post, 8 July 2019 Meanwhile, the danger AI poses is rather of human tyranny, with machines enfeebling most people, physically and intellectually, so as to leave them at the mercy of a master-class. K.n.c., The Economist, 19 July 2019 More often than not, the result is to blunt the impact of the critique and enfeeble the opposition. Michael Hiltzik, latimes.com, 25 June 2018 See More Word History
Middle English enfeblen, from Anglo-French enfebler, enfeblir, from en- + feble feeble
14th century, in the meaning defined above
enfeeble
verb
Synonyms & Similar Words
- weaken
- soften
- debilitate
- enervate
- waste
- injure
- exhaust
- sap
- paralyze
- devitalize
- tire
- hurt
- damage
- cripple
- impair
- deplete
- etiolate
- impoverish
- prostrate
- incapacitate
- depress
- harm
- disable
- hamstring
- unman
- invalid
- wash out
- lay up
- wear down
- wear out
- grind (down)
- break down
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
- strengthen
- fortify
- energize
- recruit
- invigorate
- beef (up)
- rejuvenate
- vitalize
- harden
- season
- toughen
Synonym Chooser
Some common synonyms of enfeeble are cripple, debilitate, disable, sap, undermine, and weaken. While all these words mean "to lose or cause to lose strength or vigor," enfeeble implies a condition of marked weakness and helplessness.
Although the words cripple and enfeeble have much in common, cripple implies causing a serious loss of functioning power through damaging or removing an essential part or element.
In some situations, the words debilitate and enfeeble are roughly equivalent. However, debilitate suggests a less marked or more temporary impairment of strength or vitality.
The words disable and enfeeble can be used in similar contexts, but disable suggests bringing about impairment or limitation in a physical or mental ability.
Both undermine and sap suggest a weakening by something working surreptitiously and insidiously.
While the synonyms weaken and enfeeble are close in meaning, weaken may imply loss of physical strength, health, soundness, or stability or of quality, intensity, or effective power.