| / English Dictionary |
WEAK
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
I. (adjective)
Sense 1
Meaning:
Deficient in intelligence or mental power
Example:
a weak mind
Classified under:
Similar:
stupid (lacking or marked by lack of intellectual acuity)
Sense 2
Meaning:
Overly diluted; thin and insipid
Example:
weak tea
Synonyms:
Classified under:
Similar:
dilute; diluted (reduced in strength or concentration or quality or purity)
Sense 3
Meaning:
Likely to fail under stress or pressure
Example:
the weak link in the chain
Classified under:
Adjectives
Similar:
fallible (likely to fail or make errors)
Derivation:
weakness (a flaw or weak point)
Sense 4
Meaning:
Wanting in moral strength, courage, or will; having the attributes of man as opposed to e.g. divine beings
Example:
frail humanity
Synonyms:
fallible; frail; imperfect; weak
Classified under:
Adjectives
Similar:
human (having human form or attributes as opposed to those of animals or divine beings)
Sense 5
Meaning:
Deficient in magnitude; barely perceptible; lacking clarity or brightness or loudness etc
Example:
a weak pulse
Synonyms:
faint; weak
Classified under:
Adjectives
Similar:
perceptible (capable of being perceived by the mind or senses)
Sense 6
Meaning:
Not having authority, political strength, or governing power
Example:
a weak president
Classified under:
Adjectives
Similar:
powerless (lacking power)
Derivation:
weakness (powerlessness revealed by an inability to act)
Sense 7
Meaning:
(used of verbs) having standard (or regular) inflection
Classified under:
Adjectives
Similar:
regular (in accordance with fixed order or procedure or principle)
Domain category:
grammar (the branch of linguistics that deals with syntax and morphology (and sometimes also deals with semantics))
Sense 8
Meaning:
Lacking bodily or muscular strength or vitality
Example:
her body looked sapless
Synonyms:
debile; decrepit; feeble; infirm; rickety; sapless; weak; weakly
Classified under:
Adjectives
Similar:
frail (physically weak)
Derivation:
weakness (the property of lacking physical or mental strength; liability to failure under pressure or stress or strain)
Sense 9
Meaning:
Deficient or lacking in some skill
Example:
he's weak in spelling
Classified under:
Adjectives
Similar:
unskilled (not having or showing or requiring special skill or proficiency)
Sense 10
Meaning:
(used of vowels or syllables) pronounced with little or no stress
Example:
a weak stress on the second syllable
Synonyms:
light; unaccented; weak
Classified under:
Adjectives
Similar:
unstressed (not bearing a stress or accent)
Sense 11
Meaning:
Wanting in physical strength
Example:
a weak pillar
Classified under:
Adjectives
Similar:
limp; wilted (without energy or will)
weakened (made weak or weaker)
vulnerable (capable of being wounded or hurt)
puny (inferior in strength or significance)
pale; pallid; sick; wan ((of light) lacking in intensity or brightness; dim or feeble)
gutless; namby-pamby; spineless; wishy-washy (weak in willpower, courage or vitality)
jerry-built (badly or hastily built)
flimsy; insubstantial (lacking solidity or strength)
feeble; lame (pathetically lacking in force or effectiveness)
faint; feeble (lacking strength or vigor)
adynamic; asthenic; debilitated; enervated (lacking energy or vitality)
anaemic; anemic (lacking vigor or energy)
Also:
powerless (lacking power)
delicate (exquisitely fine and subtle and pleasing; susceptible to injury)
tender; untoughened (physically untoughened)
Attribute:
strength (the property of being physically or mentally strong)
Antonym:
strong (having strength or power greater than average or expected)
Derivation:
weakness (the property of lacking physical or mental strength; liability to failure under pressure or stress or strain)
Sense 12
Meaning:
Tending downward in price
Example:
a weak market for oil stocks
Classified under:
Adjectives
Similar:
down (being or moving lower in position or less in some value)
Derivation:
weakness (the condition of being financially weak)
Context examples:
I felt very weak, and in the weakness lost something of the amazement at what had occurred.
(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)
Because you are strong and I am weak; because you are a Great Wizard and I am only a little girl.
(The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, by L. Frank Baum)
When the bones did finally heal, they were weaker and less dense than those of non-diabetic mice.
(Protein Discovery Could Help Heal Bones in Diabetics, VOA)
This argument seemed weak enough to me.
(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)
He was speaking in his natural voice—a little weak, perhaps, but the very voice I knew.
(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
“You are weak, mother,” said he.
(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
He was in the weakest health, and his wishes were not to be gainsayed.
(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
The pelvic floor can become weak or be injured.
(Pelvic Support Problems, NIH: National Institute of Child Health and Human Development)
Unlike other nitrosoureas, PCNU has strong alkylating while weak carbamoylating activity.
(PCNU, NCI Thesaurus)
For people with weak immune systems, CSD may cause more serious problems.
(Cat Scratch Disease, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
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