weak
[ week ]
/ wik /
adjective, weak·er, weak·est.
Origin of weak
1250–1300; Middle English
weik < Old Norse
veikr; cognate with Old English
wāc, Dutch
week, German
weich; akin to Old English
wīcan to yield, give way, Old Norse
vīkja to move, turn, draw back, German
weichen to yield
SYNONYMS FOR weak
2
senile,
sickly,
unwell,
invalid.
Weak,
decrepit,
feeble,
weakly imply a lack of strength or of good health.
Weak means not physically strong, because of extreme youth, old age, illness, etc.:
weak after an attack of fever.
Decrepit means old and broken in health to a marked degree:
decrepit and barely able to walk.
Feeble denotes much the same as
weak, but connotes being pitiable or inferior:
feeble and almost senile.
Weakly suggests a long-standing sickly condition, a state of chronic bad health:
A weakly child may become a strong adult.
4 ineffective.
6 unsound, ineffective, inadequate, illogical, inconclusive, unsustained, unsatisfactory, lame, vague.
7 unintelligent, simple, foolish, stupid, senseless, silly.
8 vacillating, wavering, unstable, irresolute, fluctuating, undecided, weak-kneed.
9 slender, slim, inconsiderable, flimsy, poor, trifling, trivial.
11 wanting, short, lacking.
OTHER WORDS FROM weak
o·ver·weak, adjective o·ver·weak·ly, adverb o·ver·weak·ness, nounWords nearby weak
Example sentences from the Web for weak
British Dictionary definitions for weak
weak
/ (wiːk) /
adjective
Derived forms of weak
weakish, adjective weakishly, adverb weakishness, nounWord Origin for weak
Old English
wāc soft, miserable; related to Old Saxon
wēk, Old High German
weih, Old Norse
veikr
Idioms and Phrases with weak
weak