Dictionary.com
definitions

weakness

[ week-nis ]
/ ˈwik nɪs /
||
SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR weakness ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

the state or quality of being weak; lack of strength, firmness, vigor, or the like; feebleness.
an inadequate or defective quality, as in a person's character; slight fault or defect: to show great sympathy for human weaknesses.
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.

RELATED CONTENT

How Our Greatest Strengths Become WeaknessesHere's our inventory of the best good-and-evil duos that we all struggle to keep balanced ... and you may even learn an antonym or two along the way.
READ MORE
Foxy, Catty, Fishy: Are These Traits For Animals Or Humans?Catty It seems horribly unfair to adorable cats that catty is a human descriptor meaning “devious or spiteful” (and usually in reference to female behavior). What gives? The word cat has been around since the year 700. But then, in the Middle Ages, cat became one of the many offensive terms against women and was slang for “prostitute.” The association might have been made because …
READ MORE

RELATED WORDS

flaw, vulnerability, lapse, lack, fragility, gap, deficiency, shortcoming, frailty, instability, failing, liking, taste, languor, prostration, appetite, penchant, imperfection, feebleness, passion

Nearby words

weakheartedly, weakish, weakishly, weakling, weakly, weakness, weal, weald, weald, the, wealth, wealth tax

Origin of weakness

First recorded in 1250–1300, weakness is from the Middle English word weikenes. See weak, -ness
SYNONYMS FOR weakness
1 fragility.
2 flaw. See fault.
3 penchant, passion, hunger, appetite.
SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR weakness ON THESAURUS.COM
Related formsnon·weak·ness, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for weaknesses

British Dictionary definitions for weaknesses

weakness

/ (ˈwiːknɪs) /

noun

the state or quality of being weak
a deficiency or failing, as in a person's character
a self-indulgent fondness or likinga weakness for chocolates
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for weaknesses

weakness

n.

c.1300, "quality of being weak," from weak + -ness. Meaning "a disadvantage, vulnerability" is from 1590s. That of "self-indulgent fondness" is from 1712; meaning "thing for which one has an indulgent fondness" is from 1822.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper

Idioms and Phrases with weaknesses

weakness

see have a weakness for.

The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.