SYNONYMS AND RELATED EXPRESSIONS
vulnerable
adjective
Open to harm, damage, criticism, or another adverse influence.
Local English device voice, when available. This is not a recorded dictionary pronunciation.
Open to harm
Closest synonyms
Related words and expressions
These extend or explain the idea and may require a different sentence structure.
Usage distinction
Return to topVulnerable concerns susceptibility to a particular harm or influence. Fragile describes ease of damage; impressionable more specifically concerns influence on thoughts or feelings.
CHECK THE MEANING IN CONTEXT
See vulnerable in use
The incomplete argument was vulnerable to an obvious objection.
A folder controlled by only one departing member left the publication vulnerable to losing access.
Compare an alternative with the original word in each passage. Shared meanings do not make every pair interchangeable.
Synonym reference scope and sources
The groups distinguish the senses selected for this study entry. Closest synonyms and broader related expressions have separate labels. The listed sources support lexical selection; not every phrase is a direct quotation from a source.
How the synonym reference was prepared / WordNet 3.0 license