weak sister
Americannoun
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a vacillating person; coward.
-
a part or element that undermines the whole of something; a weak link.
noun
Etymology
Origin of weak sister
First recorded in 1855–60
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.
Fear is a very weak sister and, yes, they really should get rid of those brooding teenagers and maybe Travis too.
From New York Times ● Apr. 18, 2016
Started two years ago to give the fast-growing News-Free Press a run for its money, the evening Times remained a weak sister.
From Time Magazine Archive
Circulationwise it has remained a weak sister in her hands, trailed among Manhattan's afternoon dailies only by Field's P.M.
From Time Magazine Archive
Someone suggested that he could buy the down-at-the-heels New York Yankees, weak sister of the American League, for $450,000.
From Time Magazine Archive
He was all kinds of a fool; let a few slick ones seduce him with fizz-water and oysters on the half-shell—that’s the kind of a weak sister he was.
From Cavanaugh: Forest Ranger A Romance of the Mountain West by Garland, Hamlin
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.
