Meaning & use

vulnerability

noun·Academic

The state of being easily hurt, harmed, or exploited, whether physically, emotionally, or in a system's security.

See it in a sentence

Therapists encourage clients to see emotional vulnerability as a strength, not a weakness.

The security team patched the vulnerability before hackers could exploit it.

A note on using this word

Vulnerability spans emotional contexts, as in opening up to others, and technical ones, as in software security flaws.

Words with a similar meaning

weaknessexposurefragility

Choose a synonym to suit the sentence. Meanings can overlap without being identical.

Words with an opposite meaning

strengthsecurity

Make it your own

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