weakness
Americannoun
-
the state or quality of being weak; lack of strength, firmness, vigor, or the like; feebleness.
- Synonyms:
- fragility
- Antonyms:
- strength
-
an inadequate or defective quality, as in a person's character; slight fault or defect.
to show great sympathy for human weaknesses.
- Synonyms:
- flaw
-
a self-indulgent liking or special fondness, as for a particular thing.
I've always had a weakness for the opera.
-
an object of special desire; something very difficult to resist.
Chocolates were her weakness.
noun
-
the state or quality of being weak
-
a deficiency or failing, as in a person's character
-
a self-indulgent fondness or liking
a weakness for chocolates
Synonym Usage
See fault.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
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."
Vocabulary lists containing weakness
Florida's B.E.S.T. Common Suffixes: -ness
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Unit 1, Week 4
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The Suffix -ness, Part 1
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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.
Weakness in some tech categories like chips weighed on the Nasdaq composite, leading the index to small decline.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 4, 2026
Weakness in China’s economy has weighed on spending, and many shoppers are losing interest in American products as tensions between the two countries rise.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 12, 2026
Weakness began with a bearish engulfing candle and a harami on Sept. 11 and Sept. 23, respectively.
From Barron's • Apr. 14, 2026
Global superstar Burna Boy claimed the prestigious Album of the Year award for his latest work No Sign of Weakness.
From BBC • Jan. 12, 2026
The terrorists thought that they would change our aims and stop our. ambitions, but nothing changed in my life except this: Weakness, fear, and hopelessness died.
From "Malala: The Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Changed the World" by Malala Yousafzai
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.
