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• Achilles heel
  Achilles heel

  noun

  a portion, spot, area, or the like, that is especially or solely vulnerable.
• Achilles' heel
  Achilles' heel

  A point of vulnerability. (See Achilles.)

Achilles heel

American  

Or Achilles' heel

noun

1. a portion, spot, area, or the like, that is especially or solely vulnerable.

   His Achilles heel is his quick temper.

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Achilles heel British  

noun

1. a small but fatal weakness

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Achilles' heel Cultural  

1. A point of vulnerability. (See Achilles.)

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Achilles' heel Idioms  

1. A fatal weakness, a vulnerable area, as in This division, which is rarely profitable, is the company's Achilles' heel. The term alludes to the Greek legend about the heroic warrior Achilles whose mother tried to make him immortal by holding the infant by his heel and dipping him into the River Styx. Eventually he was killed by an arrow shot into his undipped heel. [c. 1800]

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Etymology

Origin of Achilles heel

First recorded in 1800–10

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

Achilles heel Achilles' heel

In early June the Nasdaq suffered its largest one-day point decline on record, showing that tech may be the rally’s fuel but also its Achilles heel.

From Barron's ● Jun. 30, 2026

“His wealth is in one way his Achilles heel in the election,” Grose said.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 2, 2026

Even China’s imports of crude, previously an Achilles heel given its heavy dependence on energy to fuel its economy, dropped 8.8% as electric vehicles continue to dominate the market for autos domestically.

From MarketWatch ● Jan. 14, 2026

“This exposes an Achilles heel to the Burn, and other people potentially trying to get away with something this awful,” Vandenbark-Woodward said.

From Salon ● Oct. 27, 2025

“An Achilles heel is a weakness, and you’ve got one.”

From "The Million Dollar Shot" by Dan Gutman

"Banerjee's long electoral success rested on a delicate equilibrium between welfare and organisation. But the very organisation that sustained her for 15 years also became her Achilles' heel," says political scientist Bhanu Joshi.

From BBC ● May 4, 2026

An inside look at the financials of both companies prior to funding rounds completed earlier this year shows their Achilles’ heel: the soaring costs needed to train new artificial intelligence models.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 12, 2026

Investors and policymakers should ask themselves whether the push into the retail space may turn out to be private credit’s Achilles’ heel.

From MarketWatch ● Feb. 26, 2026

As he notes, "this same virtue had become their experimental Achilles' heel: how do you "read" or "detect" a property that doesn't reside at any specific point?"

From Science Daily ● Feb. 16, 2026

She’s the Achilles’ heel of their marriage, and it’s only noticeable if you’ve been watching it for sixteen years like I have.

From "The Hate U Give" by Angie Thomas