infirm
/ɪnˈfɜːm/US/ɪnˈfɜɹm/
infirm adjective: weak or ill, not in good health.
Adjective
infirm (comparative infirmer, superlative infirmest)
- Weak or ill, not in good health.
- He was infirm of body but still keen of mind, and though it looked like he couldn't walk across the room, he crushed me in debate.
- […] Here I stand your slave,
A poor, infirm, weak, and despis’d old man.c. 1603–1606, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of King Lear”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount...
- Irresolute; weak of mind or will.
- Infirm of purpose!
Give me the daggers: […]c. 1606 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Macbeth”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount... - […] vehement passion does not always indicate an infirm judgment.1797, Edmund Burke, “Letter III.”, in A Third Letter to a Member of the Present Parliament, on the Proposals for Peace with the Regicide Directory of France, London: […] F[rancis] and C[harles]...
- Infirm of purpose!
- Frail; unstable; insecure.
- He who fixes upon false Principles, treads upon Infirm ground, and so sinks […]1692–1717, Robert South, “The Practice of Religion Enforced by Reason”, in Twelve Sermons Preached upon Several Occasions, volume (please specify |volume=I to VI), London, page 3
Verb
infirm (third-person singular simple present infirms, present participle infirming, simple past and past participle infirmed)
- To contradict, to provide proof that something is not.
- The thought is that you see an episode of observation, experiment, or reasoning as confirming or infirming a hypothesis depending on whether the probability of it being correct increases or decreases during the episode.
- Synonyms:
- disconfirm
infirm meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Urdu and Bengali
infirm in Hindi
- infirm, helpless
- अपंग apaṅg
- infirm
- दुर्बल durbal
infirm in Tamil
- ஏலாத, தளர்ந்த, நலிந்த, பிணித்தாக்கத் திறனிழப்பு, பிணியால் திறனிழப்பு, முதுமை
infirm in Urdu
- infirm
- اشکت aśakt, دربل durbal
infirm in Bengali
- দুর্বল, অশক্ত, নড়বড়ে
More languagesFewer languages
- infirm in Malayalam
- ബലഹീനനായ, രോഗബാധിതനായ, ദൃഢതയില്ലാത്ത, ദുർബ്ബലമായ
- infirm in Sanskrit
- जरत् járat
Synonyms of infirm
Antonyms
Forms of infirm
| Adjective | |
|---|---|
| comparative | infirmer |
| superlative | infirmest |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | infirms |
| present participle | infirming |
| past participle | infirmed |
| past | infirmed |
Origin of infirm
* The noun is from Middle English infirme, from Latin infirmus (“weak, feeble”). * The verb is from Latin īnfirmāre, from īnfirmus (“sick, weak, infirm”) + -ō.
Words formed from infirm
Words that rhyme with infirm
9 more rhymesFewer rhymes
Questions about infirm
- What does infirm mean?
- Infirm means weak or ill, not in good health.
- What is infirm in Hindi?
- Infirm in Hindi is अपंग (apaṅg), दुर्बल (durbal). See Infirm meaning in Hindi.
- What part of speech is infirm?
- Infirm can be an adjective or a verb.
- How do you pronounce infirm?
- Infirm is pronounced /ɪnˈfɜːm/ (UK).
Words near infirm in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: infirm (page history and authors); अपंग (Hindi) (page history and authors); infirm (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); اشکت (Urdu) (page history and authors); Infirm (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); infirm (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors); जरत् (Sanskrit) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Cite this entry: “infirm.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/infirm. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.