weakness

American  

[week-nis] / ˈwik nɪs /

noun

• weaknesses
  plural

1. the state or quality of being weak; lack of strength, firmness, vigor, or the like; feebleness.

   Synonyms:

   fragility

   Antonyms:

   strength

2. an inadequate or defective quality, as in a person's character; slight fault or defect.

   to show great sympathy for human weaknesses.

   Synonyms:

   flaw

3. a self-indulgent liking or special fondness, as for a particular thing.

   I've always had a weakness for the opera.

   Synonyms:

   appetite, hunger, passion, penchant

4. an object of special desire; something very difficult to resist.

   Chocolates were her weakness.

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weakness British  

/ ˈwiːknɪs /

noun

1. the state or quality of being weak

2. a deficiency or failing, as in a person's character

3. a self-indulgent fondness or liking

   a weakness for chocolates

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weakness Idioms  

1. see have a weakness for.

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Synonym Usage

See fault.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• nonweakness
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• weaknesses
  plural

Etymology

Origin of weakness

First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English waikenes, weikenes. See weak, -ness

Explanation

The point where something fails to work properly or to hold up is its weakness. If a building crumbles in a storm, it's probably because of a weakness — a flaw or defect — in its structure. Weakness can indicate a physical weakness, like a chair with one wobbly leg, or flaw in an idea, like a plan for a lemonade stand that doesn't include any cups for serving the lemonade. People can show weakness too, when they are helpless to take action. The origin of weakness can be traced all the way back to its Proto-Indo-European root of weik, "to bend."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

weakness weaknesses

But researchers at the University of California, Riverside identified a biological weakness that termites cannot hide from: they have to molt.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 19, 2026

The group added: "Manchester United would not be Manchester United without them. That diversity isn't a weakness of Manchester United. It is part of Manchester United."

From BBC ● Sep. 19, 2026

The property market remains the soft underbelly of the U.S. economy, and the housing-start data echoed weakness in home-builder confidence earlier in the week.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 17, 2026

The Federal Reserve was no match for shares of optical-networking companies, which led S&P 500 gainers on Wednesday in the face of broad market weakness.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 16, 2026

Some suffragists favored more militancy, arguing that silence was a sign of weakness, not strength.

From "Votes for Women!" by Winifred Conkling

The World Weather Attribution study, published on Thursday, said the disaster was the result of a "compound event" caused by rising temperatures, thinning glaciers, thawing permafrost and pre-existing geological weaknesses.

From BBC ● Sep. 17, 2026

Americans should continue debating the strengths and weaknesses of the decisions made during those years.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 11, 2026

To address those weaknesses, the framework recommends drawing on a much broader range of information.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 9, 2026

But I do think that at the end of the day, he’s very aware of our roster, strengths, weaknesses, and his value to the ball club, and whatever that means.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 29, 2026

He wished he knew something about Chrysaor’s weaknesses.

From "The Mark of Athena" by Rick Riordan

Related Words

• deficiency
• failing
• flaw
• fragility
• frailty
• gap
• instability
• lack
• lapse
• shortcoming
• vulnerability