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An act of folly or weakness; a foolish practice; something absurd or nonsensical. That Pythagoras, Plato, or Orpheus, believed in any of these fooleries, it can not be suspected. Sir W. Raleigh.

Marked with, or exhibiting, folly; void of understanding; weak in intellect; without judgment or discretion; silly; unwise. I am a very foolish fond old man. Shak.

Seemingly vigorous, but really weak or insipid. He [Prof. Ayton] would purge his book of much offensive matter, if he struck out epithets which are in the bad taste of the forcible-feeble school. N. Brit. Review.

Weakness; feebleness. An appearance of delicacy, and even of fragility, is almost essential to it [beauty]. Burke.

not firm or durable; liable to fail and perish; easily destroyed; not tenacious of life; weak; infirm. That I may know how frail I am. Ps. xxxix. 4. An old bent man, worn and frail. Lowell.

Weakly; infirmly.

condition quality of being frail, physically, mentally, or morally, frailness; infirmity; weakness of resolution; liableness to be deceived or seduced. God knows our frailty, [and] pities our weakness. Locke.

full of some project. Every one is full of the miracles done by cold baths on decayed and weak constitutions. Locke.

nger; to take the place of a fallen defender or supporter. -- To stop a gap, to secure a weak point; to repair a defect.

or characteristic of, a girl; of or pertaining to girlhood; innocent; artless; immature; weak; as, girlish ways; girlish grief. -- Girl"ish*ly, adv. -- Girl"ish*ness, n.

Mawkishly or weakly good; exhibiting goodness with silliness. [Colloq.]

Weakened in a fight so as to stagger; -- said of pugilists. [Cant or Slang]

Emitting copiously, as tears or words; weakly and unreservedly demonstrative in matters of affection; sentimental. [Colloq.]

Weakly; sentimentally; effusively. [Colloq.]

f a clove hitch. -- Half hose, short stockings; socks. -- Half measure, an imperfect or weak line of action. -- Half note (Mus.), a minim, one half of a semibreve. -- Half pay, half of the wages or salary; reduced pay; as, an officer on half pay. -- Half price, half the ordinary price; or a price much reduced. --…

Seeing imperfectly; having weak discernment. Bacon.

Weak in intellect; silly.

thigh of a hog cured by salting and smoking. A plentiful lack of wit, together with most weak ham. Shak.

A worn-out strumpet; a vixenish woman; a hag. Such a weak, watery, wicked old harridan, substituted for the pretty creature I had been used to see. De Quincey.

Exhibiting strength; sound; healthy; firm; not weak; as, a hearty timber.