debilitate

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debilitate

/dɪˈbɪlɪteɪt/ UK
/dəˈbɪləteɪt/ US

Where it comes from

From debilitatus, the past passive participle of Latin dēbilitō (“to weaken, debilitate”), from the adjective dēbilis (“weak”), itself from de- + habilis (“able”). Equivalent to Latin dēbilitō + -ate (verb-forming suffix; adjective-forming suffix).

verb debilitates · debilitating · debilitated

transitive To make feeble; to weaken. The American Dream suffered a debilitating effect after the subprime crisis.
Similar: enervate, enfeeble, weaken

adjective more debilitate · most debilitate

obsolete Feeble, enfeebled. It is powerfull in helping extenuat and leane perſons who are troubled with difficultie of drawing their Brath: gives vigour and ſtrength to vithered and debilitat members; […]

Translations

Every language

verb to make feeble; to weaken

Español	debilitar
日本語	弱化する jakka suru
中文	使虛弱 /使虚弱 shǐ xūruò, 削弱 xuēruò, 使衰弱 shǐ shuāiruò
Français	débiliter
Deutsch	an den Kräften zehren, schwächen, entkräften
Ελληνικά	αποχαυνώνω apochavnóno
Русский	ослабля́ть oslabljátʹ

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MLA

"debilitate." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/debilitate. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

debilitate. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/debilitate

Chicago

"debilitate." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/debilitate.

BibTeX

@misc{debilitate_2026,
  title = {debilitate},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/debilitate},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}