feeble

From Middle English feble, from Anglo-Norman feble (“weak, feeble”) (compare French faible), from Latin flēbilis (“tearful, mournful, lamentable”) by dissimilation, from fleō (“I weep, cry”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *bʰleh₁-. Doublet of foible.

• IPA^(key): /ˈfiːbəl/

• Audio (US):

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• Rhymes: -iːbəl

feeble (comparative feebler, superlative feeblest)

1. Deficient in physical strength.

   Though she appeared old and feeble, she could still throw a ball.

   • 1712 (date written), [Joseph] Addison, Cato, a Tragedy. […], London: […] J[acob] Tonson, […], published 1713, →OCLC, Act I, scene i, page 2:

     Pent up in Utica he vainly forms
     A poor Epitome of Roman Greatneſs,
     And, cover’d with Numidian Guards, directs
     A feeble Army, and an empty Senate,
     Remnants of mighty Battels fought in vain.

   • 2003, “Figure Number Five”, performed by Soilwork:

     You've had your time
     Gonna walk that line
     Like a living travesty,
     Endlessly bound to your sins
     I'll hunt you down in time
     You're just a feeble swine
     How can I compromise
     When all you do is deny

   • 2011 October 23, Tom Fordyce, “2011 Rugby World Cup final: New Zealand 8-7 France”, in BBC Sport‎^[1]:

     France were transformed from the feeble, divided unit that had squeaked past Wales in the semi-final, their half-backs finding the corners with beautifully judged kicks from hand, the forwards making yards with every drive and a reorganised Kiwi line-out beginning to malfunction.

2. Lacking force, vigor, or effectiveness in action or expression; faint.

   That was a feeble excuse for an example.

• (physically weak): weak, infirm, debilitated
• (wanting force, vigor or efficiency): faint

feeble (third-person singular simple present feebles, present participle feebling, simple past and past participle feebled)

1. (obsolete) To make feeble; to enfeeble.

• “feeble”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• “feeble”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.

• beflee

feeble

1. Alternative form of feble