frail
/fɹeɪl/adjective, noun, verb
frail is spelled F-R-A-I-L: 5 letters and one syllable. It appears 1.9 times per million words in written English, the 20,101st most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, frail means “Easily broken physically; not firm or durable; liable to fail and perish” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in frail?
| Letters | 5: F-R-A-I-L |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 1.9 times per million words; the 20,101st most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Same letters |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is frail?
Frail appears 1.9 times per million words in written English, the 20,101st most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce frail?
- /fɹeɪl/
Frail has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-au-frail.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with frail?
No other word on PlainSpell ends in the same sounds as frail.
Spelled with the same letters in another order: flair, filar.
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of frail
- frailer comparative
- frailest superlative
- frails plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- frailing participle, present
- frailed participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does frail mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Easily broken physically; not firm or durable; liable to fail and perish.
- 2
Weak; infirm.
- 3
In an infirm state leading one to be easily subject to disease or other health problems, especially regarding the elderly.
- 4
Mentally fragile.
- 5
Liable to fall from virtue or be led into sin; not strong against temptation; weak in resolution; unchaste.
verb
- 1
To play a stringed instrument, usually a banjo, by picking with the back of a fingernail.
noun
- 1
A basket made of rushes, used chiefly to hold figs and raisins.
- 2
The quantity of fruit or other items contained in a frail.
- 3
A rush for weaving baskets.
- 4
Synonym of farasola (“old unit of weight”).
- 5
datedslangA girl.
- 6
obsoleteSynonym of flail.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Frail in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| German | gebrechlich, schwach , zierlich |
| Portuguese | frágil, débil, delicado , fraco |
| Spanish | frágil, débil, delicado |
| French | fragile |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does frail come from?
From Middle English frele, fraill, from Old French fraile, from Latin fragilis. Cognate to fraction, fracture, and doublet of fragile.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).