VULNERABLE Synonyms: 67 Similar and Opposite Words

vulnerable

adjective

ˈvəl-n(ə-)rə-bəl

Definition of vulnerable

as in susceptible

being in a situation where one is likely to meet with harm I'm vulnerable to sunburn whenever I go out in the sun

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

as in helpless

lacking protection from danger or resistance against attack vulnerable baby chicks

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of vulnerable And even the best counters are vulnerable to runs of misfortune. — Kit Chellel, Fortune, 5 Oct. 2026 Moderate flooding of sea water is possibly over some vulnerable low-lying coastal areas, especially around the morning and evening high tides, including over beach parking lots, bike paths, and harbor walkways. — Ca Weather Bot, Sacbee.com, 4 Oct. 2026 But the lack of prescribed burning, a practice long used by indigenous people to clear out dead plants and to keep landscapes healthy, has left these trees vulnerable. — Taylor Romine, CNN Money, 4 Oct. 2026 The Arab American Association of New York working with the Arab community in Bay Ridge; Older Adults Technology Services (OATS) working with older New Yorkers; the Door who’s working with vulnerable young people. — Steven Choi, New York Daily News, 4 Oct. 2026 See All Example Sentences for vulnerable

Recent Examples of Synonyms for vulnerable

Adjective

Up to 9 out of 10 people who are susceptible will get the virus if exposed, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

— Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 6 Oct. 2026
The most susceptible areas will be Long Beach and the Avalon Harbor on Tuesday and Wednesday and then Malibu through Ventura County from Wednesday through Friday.

— Hannah Fry, Los Angeles Times, 5 Oct. 2026

Definition of susceptible

Adjective

Over the past decade, cyberattacks against the education sector have risen expeditiously, exposing sensitive data, temporarily disrupting school operations and affecting students' learning.

— Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 5 Oct. 2026
Deisseroth, a Stanford professor, helped adapt a light-sensitive protein discovered by Hegemann and Nagel into a way to control nerve cells in living mice.

— Kostya Manenkov, Los Angeles Times, 5 Oct. 2026

Definition of sensitive

Adjective

But after being left unprotected from the expansion process in June, Jenner signed a three-year contract with Hamilton.

— Hailey Salvian, New York Times, 2 Oct. 2026
As a result of these changes, species are still listed on paper as endangered but are largely unprotected.

— Timothy Randhir, The Conversation, 1 Oct. 2026

Definition of unprotected

Adjective

The end result would be a gassy surface shining as brightly as a more exposed black hole but with the Balmer break and smooth red hump of a 5,000-kelvin star, de Graaff and Naidu theorized.

— Quanta Magazine, Quanta Magazine, 14 Sep. 2026
Morgan Stanley said Equinix and Digital Realty are less exposed because their facilities average roughly 5 to 10 megawatts, far below the gigawatt-scale AI campuses planned by hyperscalers and neocloud operators.

— Nick Lichtenberg, Fortune, 20 Aug. 2026

Definition of exposed

Adjective

Partita makes the same category error people like young Livia are prone to.

— Sam Worley, Vulture, 5 Oct. 2026
Our simplified treatment programs work, and are 20% cheaper than the standard treatment mechanisms; but manual, error-prone data collection holds them back.

— Jeannie Annan, Fortune, 2 Oct. 2026

Definition of prone

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“Vulnerable.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/vulnerable. Accessed 9 Oct. 2026.

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Synonyms of vulnerable

adjective

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