Literary notes about frail (AI summary)
The term frail is often employed to evoke vulnerability and delicacy, both as a description of physical weakness and as a metaphor for the transient nature of life. It appears in depictions of delicate human bodies—such as a man who cannot be left alone due to his fragile health [1] or a decrepit body succumbing slowly to its limits [2, 3]—and in illustrative portrayals of structures and settings, like a scaffolding barely able to support weight [4] or a tottering throne hinting at the impermanence of power [5]. Beyond the tangible, frail also characterizes the limits of human thought and spirit, suggesting that finite minds or fleeting moments, though delicate, carry profound significance [6, 7, 8].
- My colleague, Father Gerasim, is a frail and delicate man, and cannot be left alone for long.
— from Project Gutenberg Compilation of Short Stories by Chekhov by Anton Pavlovich Chekhov - At last Becky’s frail limbs refused to carry her farther.
— from The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Complete by Mark Twain - The mother’s heart seemed to stop—Lelechka lay there so small, so frail, so quiet.
— from Project Gutenberg Compilation of Short Stories by Chekhov by Anton Pavlovich Chekhov - " I took him the white paint, and afterwards, when I let myself down by the frail scaffolding, she looked at me, touched to tears and smiling.
— from Project Gutenberg Compilation of Short Stories by Chekhov by Anton Pavlovich Chekhov - The frail Latin throne in Constantinople was still standing, but tottering to its fall.
— from The Travels of Marco Polo — Volume 1 by Marco Polo and da Pisa Rusticiano - You may be sure, then, that the frail finite mind of your audience will likewise demand rest.
— from The Art of Public Speaking by Dale Carnegie and J. Berg Esenwein - His "soul became exceeding sorrowful," as a frail, finite being.
— from The World's Sixteen Crucified Saviors; Or, Christianity Before Christ by Kersey Graves - All of us are weak and frail; hold thou no man more frail than thyself.
— from The Imitation of Christ by à Kempis Thomas