Word
vulnerability
Phoneticsvul·ner·a·bil·i·ty
US/ˌvəɫnɝəˈbɪɫɪti/
UK/vˌʌlnəɹəbˈɪlɪti/
Definitions
01emotional or physical weakness
n. the state of being easily hurt or not protected, especially when you show your feelings.
n. the state of being susceptible to physical or emotional injury; often used in psychology to describe openness to others.
“Showing your vulnerability to a friend can actually make your relationship stronger.”
“The therapist argued that acknowledging one's vulnerability is a prerequisite for developing genuine emotional resilience in high-stress environments.”
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02a security flaw
n. a weakness in a computer system or a building that allows an attacker to get inside.
n. a specific weakness in a system's security or physical defences that can be exploited by a threat actor.
“The company released a software update to fix a major vulnerability in their app.”
“Cybersecurity experts identified a critical vulnerability in the server's encryption protocol that could have exposed sensitive user data to unauthorised access.”
Technical
Usage
Often used with the preposition 'in' or 'to'.
Real-World Examples
“The case garnered national attention for exposing pilot behaviour toward female flight attendants and the vulnerability of the scores of young women who have historically been the target demographic for the job.” “In the OpenAI-Hugging Face incident, the AI attacked the sandbox itself, finding a vulnerability which let it access the internet and "go rogue".” “In our culture, we vilify vulnerability and valorise independence.” “There is also the argument that getting off gas quicker reduces vulnerability to price shocks.” Etymology
From vulnerable + -ity.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
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englishreference.com/q/vulnerability