invalid
1 Americannoun
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an infirm or sickly person.
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a person who is too sick or weak to take care of their own needs.
My father was an invalid the last ten years of his life.
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Archaic. a member of the armed forces disabled for active service.
adjective
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unable to care for oneself due to infirmity or disability.
his invalid sister.
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of or for invalids.
invalid diets.
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(of things) in poor or weakened condition.
the invalid state of his rocking chair.
verb (used with object)
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to affect with disease; make an invalid.
He was invalided for life.
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to remove from or classify as not able to perform active service, as an invalid.
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British. to remove or evacuate (military personnel) from an active theater of operations because of injury or illness.
verb (used without object)
adjective
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not valid; not founded in truth, fact, or logic, and hence weak and indefensible; unsound; untenable.
The entire argument depends on an invalid assumption.
- Synonyms:
- incorrect, inaccurate, false, erroneous, unsubstantiated, unfounded, groundless, baseless
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deficient in effectiveness; inadequate.
Self-perception is an invalid method of judging one's own biases.
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void or without legal force, as a contract.
Without the grandfather clause, thousands of such warranties would now be invalid. The coupon is invalid in our state.
- Synonyms:
- null and void
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not accepted or permitted because a required element or the necessary form is lacking; not usable.
Anything with fewer than five characters is an invalid password, and you’ll get an error message prompting you to pick something more secure.
noun
adjective
verb
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to cause to become an invalid; disable
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(usually foll by out; often passive) to require (a member of the armed forces) to retire from active service through wounds or illness
adjective
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not valid; having no cogency or legal force
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logic (of an argument) having a conclusion that does not follow from the premises: it may be false when the premises are all true; not valid
Usage
It is best to avoid using the term invalid when referring to people with chronic illnesses or disabilities
Other Word Forms
- invalidity noun
- invalidly adverb
- invalidness noun
Etymology
Origin of invalid1
First recorded in 1635–45; from French invalide, from Latin invalidus “weak, feeble, infirm”; See in- 3, valid
Origin of invalid2
First recorded in 1630–40; from Latin invalidus “weak, feeble”; invalid 1
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
In just one news cycle, businesses learned that reciprocal tariffs were invalid, that a new global tariff would soon become effective and that fast-track government investigations could lead to additional duties.
From MarketWatch
Another common critique is that any center mandated by the legislature amounts to outside interference and is inherently invalid.
Another thing that’s likely to be messy and lengthy is any process of reimbursing money that companies paid to the U.S. government under the now invalid tariffs.
From MarketWatch
She was down in 13th following a disastrous short program which left her in tears after she missed her triple loop, meaning it was scored zero as an invalid element.
From BBC
"But our re-analysis shows their conclusion is invalid because it relies on circular reasoning and violations of basic modeling assumptions."
From Science Daily
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
