delicate vs frail

delicate

adj
  • Easily damaged or requiring careful handling. 

  • Unwell, especially because of having drunk too much alcohol. 

  • Pleasing to the senses; refined; adapted to please an elegant or cultivated taste. 

  • circa 1660, John Evelyn (author), William Bray (editor), The Diary of John Evelyn, volume I of II (1901), entry for the 19th of August in 1641, page 29 

  • Light, or softly tinted; said of a colour. 

  • Of exacting tastes and habits; dainty; fastidious. 

  • Refined; gentle; scrupulous not to trespass or offend; considerate; said of manners, conduct, or feelings. 

  • Affected by slight causes; showing slight changes. 

  • Of weak health; easily sick; unable to endure hardship. 

  • Characterized by a fine structure or thin lines. 

  • Highly discriminating or perceptive; refinedly critical; sensitive; exquisite. 

  • Intended for use with fragile items. 

  • Slight and shapely; lovely; graceful. 

noun
  • A delicate item of clothing, especially underwear or lingerie. 

  • A moth, Mythimna vitellina 

frail

adj
  • Easily broken physically; not firm or durable; liable to fail and perish. 

  • Mentally fragile. 

  • Weak; infirm. 

  • Liable to fall from virtue or be led into sin; not strong against temptation; weak in resolution; unchaste. 

verb
  • To play a stringed instrument, usually a banjo, by picking with the back of a fingernail. 

noun
  • A basket made of rushes, used chiefly to hold figs and raisins. 

  • A rush for weaving baskets. 

  • The quantity of fruit or other items contained in a frail. 

How often have the words delicate and frail occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )