weak link

Idioms  

1. The least dependable member of a group, as in The shipping department, slow in getting out orders, is our weak link in customer service, or They're all very capable designers except for Ron, who is clearly the weak link. This expression alludes to the fragile portion of a chain, where it is most likely to break. [Mid-1800s]

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Example Sentences

“Italy is Europe’s weak link when it comes to energy because it is so dependent on energy imports.”

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 27, 2026

Her production of “Ragtime,” with its sumptuous score by Stephen Flaherty and Lynn Ahrens, had nary a weak link in a cast of characters among the most expansive in the recent annals of musicals.

From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 26, 2025

Culkin, the weak link in the otherwise sturdy “Glengarry” revival, was passed over for a featured actor nomination.

From Los Angeles Times • May 1, 2025

I, like many others, thought he would be the weak link against City, and expected Erling Haaland to get away from him and score.

From BBC • Nov. 25, 2024

This weak link is made even weaker by glancing back to a recent decade, the 1960s, when the economy went on a wild growth spurt—as did violent crime.

From "Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything" by Steven D. Levitt