fragiliser

Fragiliser is a French transitive verb meaning to cause something to become fragile, or to weaken its resilience, stability, or defenses. It can describe the literal fragility of physical objects as well as figurative fragility in social, economic, or political contexts.

Originating from the adjective fragile (from Latin fragilis) and the productive suffix -iser, fragiliser forms a regular -er verb. Conjugation follows standard patterns: je fragilise, tu fragilises, il fragilise, nous fragilisons, vous fragilisez, ils fragilisent; passé composé fragilisé; imparfait fragilisais; participe fragilisé; present participle fragilisant.

Common usages include fragiliser un matériau par un choc, défaut ou corrosion; fragiliser une économie, une sécurité, une réputation, ou l’autorité d’un organisme. It can also imply a deliberate strategy to undermine an opponent or system, though in everyday French it is often neutral or descriptive rather than celebratory.

Related terms include fragilité (fragility), fragilisation (the process of fragilising), and synonyms such as affaiblir, diminuer. In English-language texts, fragiliser is sometimes used as a loanword, or translated as to weaken or to undermine.

Examples: La poutre fragilise sous la charge; La crise fragilise le secteur bancaire; Les rumeurs fragilisent la confiance publique.