weaken
Americanverb (used with object)
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- Synonyms:
- invalidate, minimize, impair, reduce, lower, diminish, lessen, deplete, exhaust, sap, undermine, enervate, debilitate, enfeeble
- Antonyms:
- strengthen
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Phonetics. to change (a speech sound) to an articulation requiring less effort, as from geminate to nongeminate or from stop to fricative.
verb (used without object)
verb
Other Word Forms
- reweaken verb
- unweakened adjective
- unweakening adjective
- weakener noun
Etymology
Origin of weaken
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.
It can also weaken statistical results and fails to reveal how languages change over time.
From Science Daily • Apr. 5, 2026
Rather, recession hawks should keep an eye on compounding jolts that could simultaneously weaken the economy and the labor market, he argues.
From Barron's • Apr. 3, 2026
“On the one hand, raising the policy rate to bring down inflation could weaken the economy further. On the other hand, lowering rates to support the economy could risk pushing inflation even higher.”
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 1, 2026
Oil-price shocks can lead to stagflation, increasing prices for gasoline and food at the same time they weaken demand and the labor market.
From MarketWatch • Mar. 23, 2026
He offered him his friendship, invited him to bathe in champagne, tried to make him understand that the females of his family had insides made of flint, but he could not weaken his obstinacy.
From "One Hundred Years of Solitude" by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
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.
