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
Gerrit De Vynck, Washington Post, 7 July 2024
The moon’s alignment with Mercury encourages vulnerable shares among friends.
—USA TODAY, 7 July 2024
Yet our positive work helping NYC meet the needs of this crisis and provide care for this vulnerable population was still met with frequent criticism.
—Lee Bienstock, New York Daily News, 6 July 2024
Each story is raw and real and vulnerable, and each one helps people remember an important truth.
—Chris Schembra, Rolling Stone, 5 July 2024
See all Example Sentences for vulnerable 
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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 15 Jul. 2024.
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vulnerable
adjective
Medical Definition
vulnerable
adjective
The Journal of the American Medical Association
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