Wiktionary
n. Something very fragile or unreliable.
Usage examples of "broken reed".
One does not lean on a broken reed when one needs a wall for defense.
The evidence of the century points to just one conclusion The Fremen army that swept through the empire during Paul's Jihad was, a hundred years later, a broken reed, top heavy with bureaucrats, dependent on local support, and often manned by sick and un willing conscripts It may well be that its total strength declined, too, for Leto never allowed a census on Arrakis, and the strength of his military mm was the most closely guarded of secrets Had it not been for Leto's spice based stranglehold on die Spac ing Guild and nis consequent absolute monopoly on transportation and communication, the Fremen army could not have secured a single planet against a determined .
And now the tradition's been modified again, substituting broken reed scepters for the real castration.
Hates are formed to react to challengesand a broken reed like Valence was no challenge to anyone, however much evil the king might have done in his weakness.
It was a broken reed, and it lay right on the edge of a bunch of mesquite.