Literary notes about Debilitated (AI summary)
The term "debilitated" in literature is often employed to evoke a profound sense of physical, mental, or even moral decay. It is used to portray characters or conditions rendered weak by disease, prolonged hardship, or the corrosive influence of an oppressive environment, as seen when a figure's health forces them to retreat from public life [1] or when an entire city is described as exhausted and diminished [2]. The word also serves metaphorically, suggesting that not only the body but the mind and spirit can be similarly enfeebled, as when nervous energy is sapped by overwhelming anxiety or when a once-vigorous nature is reduced to a state of languor [3, 4]. Additionally, in medical and observational contexts it characterizes a condition of vulnerability and insufficiency, underpinning both the literal and symbolic struggles of human fragility [5, 6].
- He was elected to Congress, but after serving two sessions, his debilitated health obliged him to retire from public life.
— from Memoirs of the Generals, Commodores and other Commanders, who distinguished themselves in the American army and navy during the wars of the Revolution and 1812, and who were presented with medals by Congress for their gallant services by Thomas Wyatt - As soon as Wilson's army took possession of our debilitated city general confusion reigned.
— from Under Four Administrations, from Cleveland to Taft Recollections of Oscar S. Straus ... by Oscar S. (Oscar Solomon) Straus - The weakness of my nerves has so debilitated my mind that I dare neither review my past wants nor look forward into futurity; for the least anxiety or
— from The Letters of Robert Burns by Robert Burns - Though the powerful mind of Galileo still retained its vigour, yet his debilitated frame was exhausted with mental labour.
— from The Martyrs of Science, or, The lives of Galileo, Tycho Brahe, and Kepler by David Brewster - When pneumonia follows another disease, the system is always more of less debilitated and requires the careful use of stimulants from the beginning.
— from Special Report on Diseases of the Horse by W. H. (William Heyser) Harbaugh - The hemorrhagic type is oftener seen in subjects debilitated or in a depraved state of health.
— from Essentials of Diseases of the SkinIncluding the Syphilodermata Arranged in the Form of Questions and Answers Prepared Especially for Students of Medicine by Henry Weightman Stelwagon
