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debilitate

de·bil·i·tate
D d

Transcription

    • US Pronunciation
    • US IPA
    • UK Pronunciation
    • UK IPA
    • [dih-bil-i-teyt]
    • /dɪˈbɪl ɪˌteɪt/
    • /dɪˈbɪl.ɪ.teɪt/
    • US Pronunciation
    • US IPA
    • [dih-bil-i-teyt]
    • /dɪˈbɪl ɪˌteɪt/

Definitions of debilitate word

  • verb debilitate If you are debilitated by something such as an illness, it causes your body or mind to become gradually weaker. 3
  • verb debilitate To debilitate an organization, society, or government means to gradually make it weaker. 3
  • verb debilitate to make feeble; weaken 3
  • verb transitive debilitate to make weak or feeble; enervate 3
  • verb with object debilitate to make weak or feeble; enfeeble: The siege of pneumonia debilitated her completely. 1
  • noun debilitate Make (someone) weak and infirm. 1

Information block about the term

Origin of debilitate

First appearance:

before 1525
One of the 28% oldest English words
1525-35; < Latin dēbilitātus (past participle of dēbilitāre), equivalent to dēbilit-, stem of dēbilis weak + -ātus -ate1

Historical Comparancy

Parts of speech for Debilitate

noun
adjective
verb
adverb
pronoun
preposition
conjunction
determiner
exclamation

debilitate popularity

A pretty common term. Usually people know it’s meaning, but prefer to use a more spread out synonym. About 55% of English native speakers know the meaning and use word.
This word is included in each student's vocabulary. Most likely there is at least one movie with this word in the title.

debilitate usage trend in Literature

This diagram is provided by Google Ngram Viewer

Synonyms for debilitate

verb debilitate

  • attenuate — To attenuate something means to reduce it or weaken it.
  • disable — make not work
  • cripple — A person with a physical disability or a serious permanent injury is sometimes referred to as a cripple.
  • harm — a U.S. air-to-surface missile designed to detect and destroy radar sites by homing on their emissions.
  • mar — to damage or spoil to a certain extent; render less perfect, attractive, useful, etc.; impair or spoil: That billboard mars the view. The holiday was marred by bad weather.

Antonyms for debilitate

verb debilitate

  • aid — Aid is money, equipment, or services that are provided for people, countries, or organizations who need them but cannot provide them for themselves.
  • assist — If you assist someone, you help them to do a job or task by doing part of the work for them.
  • animate — Something that is animate has life, in contrast to things like stones and machines which do not.
  • invigorate — to give vigor to; fill with life and energy; energize.
  • mend — to make (something broken, worn, torn, or otherwise damaged) whole, sound, or usable by repairing: to mend old clothes; to mend a broken toy.

Top questions with debilitate

  • what is the meaning of debilitate?

See also

Matching words

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