Skip to main content
to infirm

to infirm

1 8.1
To make a person weak in body or health
  • verb
  • /ɪnˈfɜrm/
  • Archaic
translation icon : debilitar
  • The harsh winter infirmed many of the elderly residents in the community, leaving them in need of extra care.

Examples

  • After years of illness, the doctors finally infirmed him, leading to a long recovery process.

  • Much credit has been given to the always-resourceful coach Rick Adelman for keeping his team moving forward without the infirmed Ricky Rubio, Kevin Love, Brandon Roy, and now Chase Budinger.

    Blog text (25)
  • Once the place had been called Sisters of Mercy Hospital for the Infirmed.

    Fiction book (1991)
  • We live active lives until we die, rather than active lives until we get infirmed and then stay infirmed until we die.

  • Changing Medicare into a voucher system to make sure the insurance companies get their share of preying on the infirmed.

    Blog text (4)
  • People are in denial, but Obamacare definitely rations care to the elderly and younger infirmed.

    Blog text (13)
  • In fact, the infirmed M'Call, who suffered from an unspecified illness that confined him to a rolling chair, did little more than lift passages from his predecessor's work and make slight changes in phrasing.

    Academic text (2015)
  • His constant stress and poor diet infirmed his health, causing him to become weaker over time.

Synonyms

to debilitate
vsto infirm
20 7.7

To make a person, animal, or thing weak and less able to work

focuses on causing weakness in health and bodily strength rather than general effectiveness

Antonyms

327 3.0

To make muscles, relationships, or groups stronger

How Weakening

to cripple
  • NSFW
11 6.8
to debilitate
20 7.7
to enfeeble
2 8.4
to infirm
  • Archaic
1 8.1
to sap
14 5.6
to weaken
305 2.8

Surface Forms

infirm infinitive
infirmed past
infirmed past participle
infirming present participle
infirms third person singular

Morphology

infirm = firm (semi-transparent) = in + firm

The prefix 'in-' typically means 'not', but the specific meaning of 'to make someone weak or feeble' is not directly derivable from 'not firm'.

Etymology

Infirm comes from the parts in- 'not' and firm 'strong'. So to infirm someone is to make them 'not strong' — to weaken their health or power.