vulnerable
581
4.0
- adjective
- /ˈvʌlnərəbəl/
:
vulnerable
- Many workers had children of their own, making them far more vulnerable to threats against their family.
- vulnerable populations
- vulnerable children
- vulnerable people
All of us are vulnerable to love bombing.
- All of us are vulnerable to love bombing.
- That's that's a very vulnerable position to place yourself.
- Like I feel too vulnerable to go outside this house.
- So the the British system is less vulnerable in that sense.
- So being vulnerable is key in that process.
- Now, please do not confuse being vulnerable with weak.
- How do we protect young women during these vulnerable years?
- When are you most scared to be vulnerable with your partner?
- Is a fear of being vulnerable OK?
- But we that's how we bonded through being vulnerable with each other.
- And I felt so vulnerable in that moment.
- I would call it more of a vulnerable gene.
- But right now your brain is at a vulnerable stage.
- The perpetrator always knows who's vulnerable and who isn't.
- So you have these cells that are vulnerable.
Examples
-
Children and small four-legged animals, the most vulnerable and dependent of all creatures.
Fiction book (1990) -
The Labour peer wrote a high-profile report for the last government on supporting vulnerable female offenders.
Academic text (2011) -
We have never been more vulnerable than we are today.
-
Like I feel too vulnerable to go outside this house.
-
How do we protect young women during these vulnerable years?
-
They pick on the most vulnerable in our society.
-
The public health care sector also should enhance outreach to vulnerable immigrant groups.
Academic text (2011) -
Many workers feel particularly vulnerable when job security is low.
-
Children are often vulnerable to bullying in school environments.
-
Without strong support systems, individuals can be vulnerable to emotional stress.
Synonyms
188
3.8
Easily broken and needing gentle care
160
3.9
Easily hurt or upset and needing careful handling
79
5.5
Easily affected or harmed by something
77
3.5
Without protection and easy to hurt
52
4.1
Being physically weak and breaking easily
28
2.9
Not safe from harm
1
5.8
Not well protected from others who want to hurt it
Feeling alone and without help or advice
Antonyms
How Vulnerable
Surface Forms
Morphology
vulnerable = vulner + able
The suffix '-able' transparently indicates 'capable of' but the root 'vulner' is a non-productive Latin combining form (not a standalone English word), so learners cannot fully derive the meaning from the parts alone.
Etymology
Vulnerable comes from the Latin root vulnus, meaning 'wound', and originally meant 'able to be wounded'. So, something vulnerable is easy to hurt, attack, or influence, whether physically or emotionally.