What it means
A planet in its Neecha sign sits 180 degrees from its exaltation: the Sun in Libra, the Moon in Scorpio, Mars in Cancer, Mercury in Pisces, Jupiter in Capricorn, Venus in Virgo, Saturn in Aries. The placement is read as the planet working in unfriendly conditions.
How it is read
Classical texts immediately qualify this with Neecha Bhanga - cancellation of debilitation. Several conditions can lift it: the lord of the debilitation sign placed in a Kendra from the Lagna or Moon, the planet that would be exalted in that sign sitting in a Kendra, and a few others. A cancelled debilitation is sometimes read as unusually strong.
What to watch for
In practice this is the term most often reported back to people as bad news, and it is rarely that simple. Debilitation describes difficulty of expression - the planet has to work harder for the same result - and the cancellation rules are common enough that a debilitated planet should never be read in isolation.
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