Synonyms of enfeeble

enfeeble

verb

in-ˈfē-bəl 

as in to weaken

to diminish the physical strength of

long periods of being confined to a hospital bed will enfeeble anyone

Synonyms & Similar Words

• weaken
• soften
• waste
• injure
• exhaust
• hurt
• debilitate
• enervate
• sap
• paralyze
• tire
• damage
• impair
• devitalize
• deplete
• cripple
• etiolate
• prostrate
• depress
• impoverish
• incapacitate
• disable
• harm
• hamstring
• invalid
• unman
• grind (down)
• wash out
• lay up
• wear out
• wear down
• break down

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• strengthen
• fortify
• recruit
• energize
• invigorate
• beef (up)
• rejuvenate
• harden
• vitalize
• season
• toughen

Synonym Chooser

How is the word enfeeble distinct from other similar verbs?

Some common synonyms of enfeeble are cripple, debilitate, disable, sap, undermine, and weaken. While all these words mean "to lose or cause to lose strength or vigor," enfeeble implies a condition of marked weakness and helplessness.

enfeebled by starvation

In what contexts can cripple take the place of enfeeble?

Although the words cripple and enfeeble have much in common, cripple implies causing a serious loss of functioning power through damaging or removing an essential part or element.

crippled by arthritis

Where would debilitate be a reasonable alternative to enfeeble?

In some situations, the words debilitate and enfeeble are roughly equivalent. However, debilitate suggests a less marked or more temporary impairment of strength or vitality.

the debilitating effects of surgery

When is it sensible to use disable instead of enfeeble?

The words disable and enfeeble can be used in similar contexts, but disable suggests bringing about impairment or limitation in a physical or mental ability.

disabled by an injury sustained at work

How are the words undermine and sap related as synonyms of enfeeble?

Both undermine and sap suggest a weakening by something working surreptitiously and insidiously.

a poor diet undermines your health

drugs had sapped his ability to think

When is weaken a more appropriate choice than enfeeble?

While the synonyms weaken and enfeeble are close in meaning, weaken may imply loss of physical strength, health, soundness, or stability or of quality, intensity, or effective power.

a disease that weakens the body's defenses

Examples Sentences

Recent Examples of enfeeble

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

Most of the time, the result will enfeeble the virus. —Boyce Upholt, The New Republic, 19 Sep. 2022

The paradox is that trauma’s lingering impacts can enfeeble human connection, weakening even the strongest of social bonds. —New York Times, 5 July 2022

How, in other words, fear and neglect, rather than the waywardness Vogel rails against, are what really enfeeble the mind. —Los Angeles Times, 26 May 2022

The goal is to blunt criticism and enfeeble the opposition. —Michael Hiltzik, Los Angeles Times, 24 Feb. 2021

The move may, in effect, enfeeble America's technology sector and, worse yet, leave the root problem—investigating terrorism, child predation, and criminality—unresolved as wrongdoers flock to alternative products. —Robert Hackett, Fortune, 29 June 2020