weak
Americanadjective
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weaker,
comparative
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weakest
superlative
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not strong; liable to yield, break, or collapse under pressure or strain; fragile; frail.
a weak fortress; a weak spot in armor.
- Antonyms:
- strong
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lacking in bodily strength or healthy vigor, as from age or sickness; feeble; infirm.
a weak old man; weak eyes.
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not having much political strength, governing power, or authority.
a weak nation; a weak ruler.
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lacking in force, potency, or efficacy; impotent, ineffectual, or inadequate.
weak sunlight; a weak wind.
- Synonyms:
- ineffective
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lacking in rhetorical or creative force or effectiveness.
a weak reply to the charges; one of the author's weakest novels.
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lacking in logical or legal force or soundness.
a weak argument.
- Synonyms:
- vague, lame, unsatisfactory, inconclusive, illogical, inadequate, ineffective, unsound
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deficient in mental power, intelligence, or judgment.
a weak mind.
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not having much moral strength or firmness, resolution, or force of character.
to prove weak under temptation; weak compliance.
- Synonyms:
- weak-kneed, undecided, irresolute, unstable, vacillating
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deficient in amount, volume, loudness, intensity, etc.; faint; slight.
a weak current of electricity; a weak pulse.
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deficient, lacking, or poor in something specified.
a hand weak in trumps; I'm weak in spelling.
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deficient in the essential or usual properties or ingredients.
weak tea.
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unstressed, as a syllable, vowel, or word.
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(of Germanic verbs) inflected with suffixes, without inherited change of the root vowel, as English work, worked, or having a preterit ending in a dental, as English bring, brought.
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(of Germanic nouns and adjectives) inflected with endings originally appropriate to stems terminating in -n, as the adjective alte in German der alte Mann (“the old man”).
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(of wheat or flour) having a low gluten content or having a poor quality of gluten.
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Photography. thin; not dense.
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Commerce. characterized by a decline in prices.
The market was weak in the morning but rallied in the afternoon.
adjective
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lacking in physical or mental strength or force; frail or feeble
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liable to yield, break, or give way
a weak link in a chain
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lacking in resolution or firmness of character
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lacking strength, power, or intensity
a weak voice
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lacking strength in a particular part
a team weak in defence
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not functioning as well as normal
weak eyes
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easily upset
a weak stomach
-
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lacking in conviction, persuasiveness, etc
a weak argument
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lacking in political or strategic strength
a weak state
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lacking the usual, full, or desirable strength of flavour
weak tea
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grammar
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denoting or belonging to a class of verbs, in certain languages including the Germanic languages, whose conjugation relies on inflectional endings rather than internal vowel gradation, as look, looks, looking, looked
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belonging to any part-of-speech class, in any of various languages, whose inflections follow the more regular of two possible patterns Compare strong
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(of a syllable) not accented or stressed
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(of a fuel-air mixture) containing a relatively low proportion of fuel Compare rich
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photog having low density or contrast; thin
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(of an industry, market, currency, securities, etc) falling in price or characterized by falling prices
Synonym Usage
Weak, decrepit, feeble, weakly imply a lack of strength or of good health. Weak means not physically strong, because of extreme youth, old age, illness, etc.: weak after an attack of fever. Decrepit means old and broken in health to a marked degree: decrepit and barely able to walk. Feeble denotes much the same as weak, but connotes being pitiable or inferior: feeble and almost senile. Weakly suggests a long-standing sickly condition, a state of chronic bad health: A weakly child may become a strong adult.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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overweaknessnoun
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weakishnessnoun
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overweakadjective
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weakishadjective
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overweaklyadverb
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weakishlyadverb
Inflected Forms
Adjectives
Etymology
Origin of weak
First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English weik, from Old Norse veikr; cognate with Old English wāc, Dutch week, German weich; akin to Old English wīcan “to yield, give way,” Old Norse vīkja “to move, turn, draw back,” German weichen “to yield”
Explanation
Weak is the opposite of strong. Muscles, arguments, defenses, and coffee can all be weak — and when they are, it's not good. Anything weak is lacking in strength or power. If your muscles are weak, you can't lift much. If your will power is weak, you give up easily. Food and drinks with little flavor are weak, and an argument that is flimsy is weak. Whenever anything is lacking or not what it should be, it's weak. And if you come across something really lame — like a dumb TV show — you could say, "That's so weak."
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.
See Examples For:
If so, then 2027 is likely to be as weak as this year has been strong.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 22, 2026
“That is not a weak consumer — it is a deliberate one,” he said.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 21, 2026
Economists think it is unlikely to do so, as economic growth remains weak and price-growth in check.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 21, 2026
"Having weak leg muscles and being overweight or obese increases a person's risk for knee osteoarthritis," Cheng said.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 20, 2026
Right up there with Kennedy’s fear of nuclear war was his fear of appearing weak.
From "Fallout: Spies, Superbombs, and the Ultimate Cold War Showdown" by Steve Sheinkin
During this moment, electronic bonds between neighboring sites alternated between stronger and weaker in a repeating pattern.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 21, 2026
The euro showed little reaction, last trading up 0.1% against a broadly weaker dollar at $1.1692.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 21, 2026
In an interview, he said the twist program would lead to a weaker dollar, which at the margin means more inflation.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 21, 2026
A fall in the dollar means US goods exports become cheaper, but imported goods may become more expensive due to the weaker currency.
From BBC ● Aug. 21, 2026
Even with her dark skin, he could see the blood was draining from her face, and she looked weaker and weaker by the second.
From "Beasts of Prey" by Ayana Gray
Walmart reported its weakest sales growth in six years, extending a string of data suggesting that consumer spending—the key engine of U.S. economic growth—is softening somewhat.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 20, 2026
The people in power—officers and civilians—seem to have ignored the possibility that the enemy would attack our weakest links, in this case the supply hubs.
From Slate ● Aug. 19, 2026
Historically, September is the weakest month for S&P 500 returns over the entire calendar year.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 15, 2026
On almost every measure, the region is among the weakest educationally, according to the South West Social Mobility Commission, a coalition of organisations trying to bring about change.
From BBC ● Aug. 6, 2026
No, the menace of the supernatural is that it attacks where modern minds are weakest, where we have abandoned our protective armor of superstition and have no substitute defense.
From "The Haunting of Hill House" by Shirley Jackson
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.
