frail
adj.adj. weak and delicate, especially because of old age or being sick. You use this to describe someone who looks like they might get hurt or break easily.
adj. physically weak and delicate, typically as a result of advanced age or illness. Often used to describe the physical state of the elderly or those in a state of convalescence.
The old man looked very frail after his long illness.
The nurse helped the frail patient walk slowly down the hospital corridor to ensure she did not fall.
Although his mind remained sharp and his wit as biting as ever, his frail body could no longer support the demands of a full day in the studio.
From Middle English frele, fraill, from Old French fraile, from Latin fragilis. Cognate to fraction, fracture, and doublet of fragile.
From Middle English frayel, from Old French frael, fraiel, of unknown origin; possibly a dissimilatory variant of flael, flaiel (“flail”).
Typically used as a predicative adjective after 'be', 'look', or 'become', or as an attributive adjective before a noun.