as in to weaken
to diminish the physical strength of
long periods of being confined to a hospital bed will enfeeble anyone
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Recent Examples of enfeeble
If that is the case, the economic effect will be to draw capital out of emerging market economies, enfeebling them (and their currencies and bond markets).
—
Mike O'Sullivan, Forbes.com, 15 Aug. 2025
Since then, Recep Erdogan has enfeebled the country’s institutions and its economic backbone and has turned a foreign policy that used to be based on ‘no trouble with neigbours’ to one of ‘trouble with neighbours’.
—Mike O'Sullivan, Forbes, 13 Dec. 2024
That more recent tradition of the Bears — over the last 3 1/2 decades — has been one of mediocrity and that’s something Warren and Ryan Poles — and anyone else attached to the coaching search in any manner — has to convince top candidates will not enfeeble the organization moving forward.
—Brad Biggs, Chicago Tribune, 9 Dec. 2024
With its proxies enfeebled, the failure of Iran’s second missile barrage to do significant damage, and its adversaries’ superior military and intelligence capacities, the Islamic Republic’s hand has undoubtedly been weakened.
—Ali Vaez, Foreign Affairs, 11 Oct. 2024
To gain the gavel, McCarthy had to make a series of humiliating, enfeebling concessions to his far-right flank that more or less disempowered him.
—Alex Shephard, The New Republic, 28 Apr. 2023
Decades of mass incarceration have resulted in a prison population growing older and more enfeebled, and has introduced the challenge of reintegrating people coming out after long sentences, often with few skills, into a society that technology has made alienatingly unfamiliar.
—Ginia Bellafante, New York Times, 31 Mar. 2023
Yet an honest accounting forced me to admit that my ability to party, protest, and publish has been far more enfeebled than enabled by social media.
—Peter Rubin, Longreads, 7 Mar. 2023
Mike O'Sullivan, Forbes.com, 15 Aug. 2025
Since then, Recep Erdogan has enfeebled the country’s institutions and its economic backbone and has turned a foreign policy that used to be based on ‘no trouble with neigbours’ to one of ‘trouble with neighbours’.
—Mike O'Sullivan, Forbes, 13 Dec. 2024
That more recent tradition of the Bears — over the last 3 1/2 decades — has been one of mediocrity and that’s something Warren and Ryan Poles — and anyone else attached to the coaching search in any manner — has to convince top candidates will not enfeeble the organization moving forward.
—Brad Biggs, Chicago Tribune, 9 Dec. 2024
With its proxies enfeebled, the failure of Iran’s second missile barrage to do significant damage, and its adversaries’ superior military and intelligence capacities, the Islamic Republic’s hand has undoubtedly been weakened.
—Ali Vaez, Foreign Affairs, 11 Oct. 2024
To gain the gavel, McCarthy had to make a series of humiliating, enfeebling concessions to his far-right flank that more or less disempowered him.
—Alex Shephard, The New Republic, 28 Apr. 2023
Decades of mass incarceration have resulted in a prison population growing older and more enfeebled, and has introduced the challenge of reintegrating people coming out after long sentences, often with few skills, into a society that technology has made alienatingly unfamiliar.
—Ginia Bellafante, New York Times, 31 Mar. 2023
Yet an honest accounting forced me to admit that my ability to party, protest, and publish has been far more enfeebled than enabled by social media.
—Peter Rubin, Longreads, 7 Mar. 2023
Recent Examples of Synonyms for enfeeble
Verb
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Israeli strikes severely weakened Hezbollah – culminating in the assassination of its revered leader, Hassan Nasrallah – and significantly curtailed the group’s domestic clout.—
Mostafa Salem,
CNN Money,
5 Sep. 2025
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Symptoms related to Listeria monocytogenes Listeria is especially harmful to people whose immune system is weakened or not fully developed but can also impact healthy individuals.—
Julia Gomez,
USA Today,
5 Sep. 2025
Verb
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All of these things can soften poop and move it through your system more smoothly—which helps keep those nearby blood vessels calm and cool.—
Erica Sloan,
SELF,
5 Sep. 2025
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If a fence is involved, soften its lines with greenery.—
Neil Sperry,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
5 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Enfeeble.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/enfeeble. Accessed 10 Sep. 2025.
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