vulnerable
adjective
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The History of Vulnerable
Superheroes are often depicted in comic books and movies as all-powerful, deflecting boulders and missiles in mid-air with a flick of the wrist, walking through walls, and having indestructible skeletons and whatnot. Fans know, however, that even the mightiest, meatiest protagonist is vulnerable to something, be it kryptonite or forgetting the whereabouts of one’s hammer. Vulnerable ultimately comes from the Latin noun vulnus, meaning “wound,” by way of the Late Latin adjective vulnerabilis, which English speakers adopted as vulnerable in the early 1600s. Vulnerable continues to carry its original meaning of “capable of being physically wounded,” but since the late 1600s it has also been used figuratively to suggest a defenselessness against non-physical attacks. In other words, someone (or something) can be vulnerable to criticism or failure as well as to literal wounding—even superheroes. So don’t go breaking their hearts, even if you can’t break their bones.
Synonyms
Examples of vulnerable in a Sentence
April Ehrlich, ProPublica, 12 Nov. 2024
Beijing, on the other hand, remains reliant on Taiwanese technology products for its manufacturing industry, meaning that China is now arguably more vulnerable to a disruption in cross-strait trade than Taiwan.
—David Sacks, Foreign Affairs, 8 Nov. 2024
And some of Colorado’s most vulnerable students are the victims.
—Emily Harvey, The Denver Post, 5 Nov. 2024
The makeup of the residents is a result of the region’s system for prioritizing the most vulnerable and troubled people for permanent housing.
—Liam Dillon, Los Angeles Times, 5 Nov. 2024
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Dictionary Entries Near vulnerable
Cite this Entry
“Vulnerable.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/vulnerable. Accessed 22 Nov. 2024.
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vulnerable
adjective
Medical Definition
vulnerable
adjective
The Journal of the American Medical Association
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