weak

English

Wikipedia

Etymology

Middle English weike, from Old Norse veikr "weak," cognate with Old English wīcan "to yield." Proto-Indo-European base *weik- "to bend, wind". Replaced the native Old English wāc.

Pronunciation

• enPR: wēk, IPA: /wiːk/, SAMPA: /wi:k/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -iːk
• Homophone: week

Adjective

weak (comparative weaker, superlative weakest)

1. Lacking in force (usually strength) or ability.

   The child was too weak to move the boulder.

   They easily guessed his weak computer password.

2. Dilute, lacking in taste or potency.

   We were served stale bread and weak tea.

3. (grammar) Regular in inflection, especially of verbs.
4. (physics) One of the four fundamental forces associated with nuclear decay.
5. (slang) Bad or uncool.

   This place is weak.

Synonyms

• (lacking in force or ability): feeble, frail, powerless
• (lacking in taste or potency): dilute, watery

Antonyms

• (lacking in force or ability): healthy, powerful, robust, strong
• (lacking in taste or potency): potent, robust, strong

Derived terms

• weaken
• weakling
• weakness
• weak sister

Translations

lacking in force or ability

Arabic: ضعيف (ar) (Da`iif) Armenian: թույլ (t'uyl), տկար (hy) (tkar) Chinese: Mandarin: 弱 (cmn) (ruò) Czech: slabý (cs) m. Dutch: zwak (nl), slap (nl) Faroese: veikur (fo) Finnish: heikko (fi) French: faible (fr) Georgian: სუსტი (ka) (susti), უძლური (ka) (ujluri), უღონო (ka) (uḡono) German: schwach (de) Greek: αδύναμος (el) (adýnamos) m. Hebrew: חלש (he) Hungarian: gyenge (hu), gyönge (hu) Ido: febla (io), debila (io) Indonesian: lemah (id) Irish: lag (ga) Italian: debole (it)

Japanese: 弱い (ja) (yowai) Latin: infirmus (la) Old Church Slavonic: Cyrillic: слабъ (slabŭ) Glagolitic: ⰔⰎⰀⰁⰟ (slabŭ) Polish: słaby (pl) m. Portuguese: fraco (pt) m., fraca (pt) f., fraca (pt) f. Romanian: slab (ro), debil (ro), lânced (ro) Russian: слабый (ru) (slábyj) Santali: ᱚᱵᱳᱞ (abol) Scottish Gaelic: lag (gd) Slovak: slabý (sk) Spanish: débil (es) m. and f. Swedish: svag (sv) Tok Pisin: hanggre (tpi) Turkish: zayıf (tr) Vietnamese: yếu (vi) Vietnamese: yếu (vi) Welsh: gwan (cy)

dilute, lacking in taste or potency

Arabic: ضعيف (ar) Armenian: թույլ (t'uyl) Czech: slabý (cs) m. Dutch: flauw (nl) Finnish: laimea (fi), mieto (fi) German: schwach (de) Hungarian: gyenge (hu), híg (hu)

Irish: lag (ga) Japanese: 薄い (ja) (usui) Russian: слабый (ru) (slábyj) Scottish Gaelic: lag (gd) Swedish: svag (sv) Welsh: gwan (cy)

grammar: regular in inflection

Dutch: zwak (nl) Finnish: säännöllinen (fi) German: schwach (de) Hungarian: gyenge (hu)

Japanese: 弱変化の (ja) (jakuhenka no) Latin: legitimus (la) Russian: слабый (ru) (slábyj), правильный (ru) (právil'nyj) Swedish: svag (sv)

physics: one of the four fundamental forces associated with nuclear decay

Armenian: թույլ (t'uyl) Czech: slabý (cs) m. Finnish: heikko (fi) Ido: debila (io)

Japanese: 弱い (ja) (yowai) Russian: слабый (ru) (slábyj) Swedish: svag (sv)

slang: bad or uncool

Finnish: huono (fi) German: (colloquial) out (de), unschön (de), häßlich (de), uninteressant (de)

Hungarian: gyenge (hu) Japanese: ださい (ja) (dasai)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.

Translations to be checked

Arabic: ضعيف (ɖaʕí:f) Bulgarian: слаб m., слаба f., слабо n. (slab, slaba, slabo) Mandarin: 微弱 (wēiruò) Esperanto: malforta French: faible m/f Greek: αδύνατος m., αδύνατη f., αδύνατο n. (aðínatos, aðínati, aðínato) Hebrew: חלש (khalásh) m., חלשה (khalásha) f. Indonesian: lemah

Italian: debole m. and f. Korean: 약한 (yakhan) Kurdish: بێ قووه‌ت, بێ هێز, لاواز Portuguese: fraco m., fraca f. Spanish: débil m. and f. Swedish: svag Turkish: zayıf, kırılgan, güçsüz

Anagrams

• wake

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West Frisian

Adjective

weak

1. soft