different between feeble vs ragged

English

Etymology

From Middle English feble, from Anglo-Norman feble (“weak, feeble”) (compare French faible), from Latin fl?bilis (“tearful, mournful, lamentable”). Doublet of foible.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?fi?b?l/
• Rhymes: -i?b?l

Adjective

feeble (comparative feebler, superlative feeblest)

1. Deficient in physical strength

   Though she appeared old and feeble, she could still throw a ball.
2. Lacking force, vigor, or efficiency in action or expression; faint.

   That was a feeble excuse for an example.

Synonyms

• (physically weak): weak, infirm, debilitated
• (wanting force, vigor or efficiency): faint

Derived terms

Translations

Verb

feeble (third-person singular simple present feebles, present participle feebling, simple past and past participle feebled)

1. (obsolete) To make feeble; to enfeeble.

References

• feeble in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• feeble in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.

Anagrams

• beflee

Middle English

Adjective

feeble

1. Alternative form of feble

English

Etymology 1

From Middle English ragged, from North Germanic. Compare with Old Norse r?gvaðr (“tufted”) and Norwegian ragget (“shaggy”).

Pronunciation

• enPR: r?g'?d, IPA^(key): /??æ??d/

Adjective

ragged (comparative more ragged, superlative most ragged)

1. In tatters, having the texture broken.

   a ragged coat

   a ragged sail

2. Having rough edges; jagged or uneven

   ragged rocks

3. Harsh-sounding; having an unpleasant noise
   • 1912, David Herbert Lawrence, The Trespasser, Chapter 12

     There was a ragged noise of bleating from the flock penned in a corner of the yard. Two red-armed men seized a sheep, hauled it to a large bath that stood in the middle of the yard, and there held it, more or less in the bath, whilst a third man baled a dirty yellow liquid over its body.

4. Wearing tattered clothes.

   a ragged fellow

5. Rough; shaggy; rugged.
   • 1969, Paul Simon, Simon & Garfunkel, “The Boxer”, Bridge over Troubled Water, Columbia Records:

     Seeking out the poorer quarters
     Where the ragged people go

6. Faulty; lacking in skill, reliability, or organization.
7. (music) performed in a syncopated manner, especially in ragtime.
8. (computing) Of a data structure: having uneven levels.

   a ragged hierarchy

   a ragged array, consisting of a number of arrays of varying size

Derived terms

Translations

Etymology 2

From rag

Pronunciation

• enPR: r?gd, IPA^(key): /?æ?d/

Verb

ragged

1. simple past tense and past participle of rag

Anagrams

• Dagger, dagger, dragge

Middle English

Alternative forms

• raggid, ragget, raggede, raggyd, ragyd, reaggeth, raged, raggit

Etymology

From Old Norse raggaðr; equivalent to and reinforced by ragge +? -ed.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?ra?id/

Adjective

ragged

1. ragged, raggy, raglike
2. shaggy, furry
3. rough, jagged, spiked

Descendants

• English: ragged
• Scots: raggit

References

• “ragged(e, adj.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-04-02.