Feebly Meaning
/ˈfiːbli/Definition, CEFR level C2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Listen pronunciation
Definition
advIn a feeble manner.
Sentence Examples
He lay breathing very feebly.
Michael heard the rescuers approaching and called out feebly: "Hello!"
CEFR Practice Quiz
The injured bird flapped its wings ____, unable to lift off the ground.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
She smiled ____ at her friends before she closed her eyes and drifted off into a deep sleep.
Word Origin & History
From Middle English febly; equivalent to feeble + -ly, euphonically blending -le and -ly. Compare nimbly, nobly, and Latinate -ably and -ibly.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"Feebly ſhe ſhriekt, but ſo feebly indeed / That Britomart heard not the ſhrilling ſound."
— 1596, Edmund Spenser, “Book IV, Canto VII”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, stanza 4, page 95:
"The hurt nigger moaned feebly somewhere nearby, and then fetched a deep sigh that made me mend my pace away from there."
— 1899 February, Joseph Conrad, “The Heart of Darkness”, in Blackwood’s Edinburgh Magazine, volume CLXV, number M, New York, N.Y.: The Leonard Scott Publishing Company, […], →OCLC, part I, page 215:
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CEFR Practice Quiz
The injured bird flapped its wings ____, unable to lift off the ground.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
She smiled ____ at her friends before she closed her eyes and drifted off into a deep sleep.