weak

English

Wikipedia

Etymology

From Middle English weik, waik, from Old Norse veikr ‎(“weak”), from Proto-Germanic *waikwaz ‎(“weak, yielded, pliant, bendsome”), from Proto-Indo-European *weyk- ‎(“to bend, wind”). Cognate with Old English wāc ‎(“weak, bendsome”), wīcan ‎(“to yield”), Saterland Frisian wook ‎(“soft, gentle, tender”) West Frisian weak ‎(“soft”), Dutch week ‎(“soft, weak”), German weich ‎(“weak, soft”), Swedish vek ‎(“weak, pliant”), Icelandic veikur ‎(“bendsome, weak”).

Pronunciation

• enPR: wēk, IPA^(key): /wiːk/

• 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.‎

   • Shakespeare

     a poor, infirm, weak, and despised old man

   • Dryden

     weak with hunger, mad with love

2. Unable to sustain a great weight, pressure, or strain.

   a weak timber; a weak rope

3. Unable to withstand temptation, urgency, persuasion, etc.; easily impressed, moved, or overcome; accessible; vulnerable.

   weak resolutions; weak virtue

   • Joseph Addison, The Fair Petinent Act I, scene I:

     Guard thy heart / On this weak side, where most our nature fails.

4. Dilute, lacking in taste or potency.
   • 1918, W. B. Maxwell, chapter 2, in The Mirror and the Lamp^[1]:

     That the young Mr. Churchills liked—but they did not like him coming round of an evening and drinking weak whisky-and-water while he held forth on railway debentures and corporation loans. Mr. Barrett, however, by fawning and flattery, seemed to be able to make not only Mrs. Churchill but everyone else do what he desired.

   We were served stale bread and weak tea.‎

5. (grammar) Displaying a particular kind of inflection, including:
   1. (Germanic languages, of verbs) Regular in inflection, lacking vowel changes and having a past tense with -d- or -t-.
   2. (Germanic languages, of nouns) Showing less distinct grammatical endings.
   3. (Germanic languages, of adjectives) Definite in meaning, often used with a definite article or similar word.
6. (chemistry) That does not ionize completely into anions and cations in a solution.

   a weak acid;  a weak base‎

7. (physics) One of the four fundamental forces associated with nuclear decay.
8. (slang) Bad or uncool.

   This place is weak.‎

9. (mathematics, logic) Having a narrow range of logical consequences; narrowly applicable. (Often contrasted with a strong statement which implies it.)
10. Resulting from, or indicating, lack of judgment, discernment, or firmness; unwise; hence, foolish.
    • Milton

      If evil thence ensue, / She first his weak indulgence will accuse.

11. Not having power to convince; not supported by force of reason or truth; unsustained.

    The prosecution advanced a weak case.

    • Milton

      convinced of his weak arguing

12. Lacking in vigour or expression.

    a weak sentence; a weak style

13. Not prevalent or effective, or not felt to be prevalent; not potent; feeble.
    • Shakespeare

      weak prayers

14. (stock exchange) Tending towards lower prices.

    a weak market; wheat is weak at present

15. (photography) Lacking contrast.

    a weak negative

Synonyms

• (lacking in force or ability): feeble, frail, powerless, vincible, assailable, vulnerable
• (lacking in taste or potency): dilute, watery
• See also wikisaurus:weak

Antonyms

• (lacking in force or ability): healthy, powerful, robust, strong, invincible
• (lacking in taste or potency): potent, robust, strong
• (chemistry: that does not ionize completely): strong

Derived terms

Derived terms

milliweak superweak weaken

weakling weakness weak sister

Translations

lacking in force or ability

• Afrikaans: swak
• Albanian: i dobët
• Amharic: ደካማ ‎(däkama), ለዋሳ ‎(läwasa)
• Arabic: ضَعِيف ‎(ḍaʿīf)

  Moroccan Arabic: عيّان m ‎(ʕəyyæn)

• Armenian: թույլ (hy) ‎(tʿuyl), տկար (hy) ‎(tkar)
• Aromanian: slab
• Asturian: débil
• Azeri: zəif (az), gücsüz
• Bashkir: көсһөҙ ‎(köshöð)
• Belarusian: сла́бы ‎(sláby)
• Bengali: দুর্বল ‎(durbôl)
• Breton: gwan (br)
• Bulgarian: слаб (bg) ‎(slab)
• Burmese: အားနည်း (my) ‎(a:nany:)
• Catalan: feble (ca), dèbil
• Chechen: гӏийла ‎(ġīla), мела ‎(mela)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 弱 (zh) ‎(ruò), 微弱 (zh) ‎(wēiruò), 軟弱 (zh), 软弱 (zh) ‎(ruǎnruò)

• Corsican: debuli (co)
• Crimean Tatar: quvetsiz, zayıf
• Czech: slabý (cs) m
• Dalmatian: débol
• Danish: svag
• Dutch: zwak (nl), slap (nl)
• Estonian: nõrk
• Faroese: veikur (fo)
• Finnish: heikko (fi)
• French: faible (fr)
• Friulian: debul
• Galician: débil, feble, fraco, frouxo
• Georgian: სუსტი ‎(susṭi), უძლური ‎(uʒluri), უღონო ‎(uɣono)
• German: schwach (de)
• Greek: αδύναμος (el) ‎(adýnamos)
• Hebrew: חַלָּשׁ (he) ‎(khalásh)
• Hindi: दुर्बल (hi) ‎(durbal), निर्बल (hi) ‎(nirbal), कमज़ोर ‎(kamzor), अशक्त (hi) ‎(aśakt)
• Hungarian: gyenge (hu), gyönge (hu)
• Icelandic: veikur (is)
• Ido: febla (io), debila (io)
• Indonesian: lemah (id)
• Irish: lag
• Italian: debole (it)
• Japanese: 弱い (ja) ‎(よわい, yowai)
• Norman: faibl'ye m, f
• Kazakh: әлсіз (kk) ‎(älsiz), күшсіз ‎(küşsiz)
• Khmer: ខ្សោយ (km) ‎(ksaoy)
• Korean: 약하다 (ko) ‎(yakhada)
• Kyrgyz: күчсүз ‎(küçsüz), алсыз (ky) ‎(alsız)
• Lao: ຍໍ່ແຍ່ ‎(nyǭ nyǣ), ບໍ່ແຂງແຮງ ‎(bǭ khǣng hǣng)
• Latgalian: sluobs

• Latin: īnfirmus, imbēcillus
• Latvian: vārgs, vājš
• Lithuanian: silpnas (lt) m, silpna f
• Macedonian: слаб ‎(slab)
• Malay: lemah
• Maltese: dgħajjef m
• Maori: tahō
• Mongolian: сул дорой ‎(sul doroj), муу (mn) ‎(muu), дорой (mn) ‎(doroj)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: svak (no)

• Old Church Slavonic:

  Cyrillic: слабъ ‎(slabŭ)

  Glagolitic: ⱄⰾⰰⰱⱏ ‎(slabŭ)

• Persian: ضعیف (fa) ‎(za'if), نزار (fa) ‎(nezâr)
• Polish: słaby (pl) m
• Portuguese: fraco (pt), débil (pt), frouxo (pt)
• Romanian: slab (ro), debil (ro), lânced (ro)
• Romansch: debel, flaivel, fleivel, flevel
• Russian: сла́бый (ru) ‎(slábyj)
• Sanskrit: निर्बल (sa) ‎(nirbala), दुर्बल (sa) ‎(durbala), अशक्त (sa) ‎(aśakta)
• Santali: ᱚᱵᱳᱞ ‎(abol)
• Sardinian: débbile, débbili, díbbile
• Scottish Gaelic: lag
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: слаб

  Roman: slab (sh)

• Sicilian: dèbbuli (scn), dèbuli (scn), dèbbili (scn), dèbili (scn)
• Slovak: slabý
• Slovene: šíbek (sl), slàb (sl) (archaic)
• Sorbian:

  Lower Sorbian: słaby

• Spanish: débil (es), feble, flaco (es), flojo (es)
• Swedish: svag (sv)
• Tajik: заиф ‎(zayif), низор ‎(nizor)
• Tatar: көчсез ‎(köçsez)
• Thai: อ่อนแอ (th) ‎(òn ae)
• Tibetan: སྐྱོ་པོ ‎(skyo po)
• Tok Pisin: hanggre
• Turkish: zayıf (tr), güçsüz (tr)
• Turkmen: asgyn (tk), gowşak, gujursyz, ejiz
• Ukrainian: слабки́й ‎(slabkýj), сла́бий ‎(slábyj)
• Urdu: دربل ‎(durbal), کمزور ‎(kamzor), اشکت ‎(aśakt)
• Uyghur: ئاجىز ‎(ajiz), كۈچسىز ‎(küchsiz)
• Uzbek: kuchsiz (uz), zaif (uz)
• Venetian: debol, debole, debolo, debełe
• Vietnamese: yếu (vi)
• Walloon: flåwe (wa) m, f, fwebe (wa) m, f
• Welsh: gwan (cy)
• Yiddish: שוואַך ‎(shvakh)

dilute, lacking in taste or potency

• Arabic: ضَعِيف ‎(ḍaʿīf)
• Armenian: թույլ (hy) ‎(tʿuyl)
• Czech: slabý (cs) m
• Dutch: flauw (nl)
• Finnish: laimea (fi), mieto (fi)
• German: schwach (de)
• Hungarian: gyenge (hu), híg (hu)
• Irish: lag

• Japanese: 薄い (ja) ‎(うすい, usui)
• Portuguese: fraco (pt)
• Russian: сла́бый (ru) ‎(slábyj)
• Scottish Gaelic: lag
• Swedish: svag (sv)
• Tagalog: matabang
• Welsh: gwan (cy)

grammar: regular in inflection

• Dutch: zwak (nl)
• Finnish: säännöllinen (fi)
• German: schwach (de)
• Greek: αδύνατος (el) ‎(adýnatos)
• Hungarian: gyenge (hu)

• Japanese: 弱変化の ‎(じゃくへんかの, jakuhenka no)
• Latin: ^{(please verify)} legitimus
• Portuguese: fraco (pt)
• Russian: сла́бый (ru) ‎(slábyj), пра́вильный (ru) ‎(právilʹnyj)
• Swedish: svag (sv)

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

• Armenian: թույլ (hy) ‎(tʿuyl)
• Czech: slabý (cs) m
• Finnish: heikko (fi)
• Hungarian: gyenge (hu)
• Ido: debila (io)

• Japanese: 弱い (ja) ‎(よわい, yowai)
• Russian: сла́бый (ru) ‎(slábyj)
• Spanish: débil (es)
• Swedish: svag (sv)

slang: bad or uncool

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

• Hungarian: gyenge (hu), gyér (hu)
• Japanese: ださい ‎(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: ^{(please verify)} ضَعِيف ‎(ḍaʿīf)
• Bulgarian: ^{(please verify)} слаб (bg) ‎(slab)
• Mandarin: ^{(please verify)} 微弱 (zh) ‎(wēiruò)
• Esperanto: ^{(please verify)} malforta
• French: ^{(please verify)} faible (fr) m, f
• Hebrew: ^{(please verify)} חלש (he) m ‎(khalásh), ^{(please verify)} חלשה f ‎(khalásha)
• Indonesian: ^{(please verify)} lemah (id)

• Italian: ^{(please verify)} debole (it) m, f
• Korean: ^{(please verify)} 약한 ‎(yakhan)
• Kurdish: ^{(please verify)} بێ قووه‌ت, ^{(please verify)} بێ هێز, ^{(please verify)} لاواز (ku)
• Lao: ^{(please verify)} ອ່ອນແອ ‎('ǭn 'ǣ)
• Swedish: ^{(please verify)} svag (sv)
• Turkish: ^{(please verify)} zayıf (tr), ^{(please verify)} kırılgan (tr), ^{(please verify)} güçsüz (tr)

Anagrams

• wake

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West Frisian

Adjective

weak

1. soft