weak
adjective /wiːk/
/wiːk/
(comparative weaker, superlative weakest)
Idioms - not physically strong
- She is still weak after her illness.
- His legs felt weak.
- She suffered from a weak heart.
- weak with/from something I was exhausted and weak with hunger.
Homophones weak | weekweak week/wiːk//wiːk/- weak adjective
- He was weak with hunger.
- week noun
- I've been waiting to hear from them for over a week.
Extra ExamplesTopics Illnessa2- Her legs felt suddenly weak.
- She was weak from shock.
- When the spasm passed, it left him weak and sweating.
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryverbs- appear
- be
- feel
- …
- extremely
- fairly
- very
- …
- at
- from
- in
- …
- weak at the knees
- that cannot support a lot of weight; likely to break
- That bridge is too weak for heavy traffic.
- Weak foundations caused the building to collapse.
- easy to influence; not having much power
- a weak and cowardly man
- In a weak moment (= when I was easily persuaded) I said she could borrow the car.
- Small firms find themselves in a very weak position during a recession.
- a weak leader
- The unions have always been weak in this industry.
- the weaknoun [plural] people who are poor, sick or without power
- not financially strong or successful
- A weak dollar isn't bad news for everyone.
- a weak currency/yen/euro
- Is it your policy to have a relatively weak currency?
- The economy is very weak.
- weak against something The currency was still relatively weak against the dollar.
- a weak liquid contains a lot of water
- weak tea
- a weak acid
- not easily seen or heard
- a weak light/signal/sound
- The weak winter sunlight spread across the lake.
- not good at something
- a weak team
- weak in something I was always weak in the science subjects.
Extra Examples- He's weak in English.
- She's rather weak at languages.
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryverbs- appear
- be
- feel
- …
- extremely
- fairly
- very
- …
- at
- from
- in
- …
- weak at the knees
- that people are not likely to believe or be persuaded by synonym unconvincing
- weak arguments/evidence
- I enjoyed the movie but I thought the ending was very weak.
Extra Examples- The case for the prosecution was rather weak.
- The judge decided the evidence was inherently weak and inconsistent.
- The essay was a bit weak on detail.
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryverbs- appear
- be
- feel
- …
- extremely
- fairly
- very
- …
- at
- from
- in
- …
- weak at the knees
- done without enthusiasm or energy
- a weak smile
- He made a weak attempt to look cheerful.
- weak point/spot the part of a person’s character, an argument, etc. that is easy to attack or criticize
- The team's weak points are in defence.
- He knew her weak spot where Steve was concerned.
- a weak verb forms the past tense and past participle by adding a regular ending and not by changing a vowel. In English this is done by adding -d, -ed or -t (for example walk, walked).
- (of the pronunciation of some words) used when there is no stress on the word. For example, the weak form of and is /ən/ or /n/, as in fish and chips /fɪʃ ən tʃɪps/. opposite strong
not physically strong
likely to break
without power
poor/sick people
currency/economy
liquid
hard to see/hear
not good at something
not convincing
without enthusiasm
point/spot
grammar
phonetics
Word OriginOld English wāc ‘pliant’, ‘of little worth’, ‘not steadfast’, reinforced in Middle English by Old Norse veikr, from a Germanic base meaning ‘yield, give way’.
Idioms
the spirit is willing (but the flesh is weak)
- (humorous, saying) you intend to do good things but you are too lazy, weak or busy to actually do them
weak at the knees
- (informal) hardly able to stand because of emotion, fear, illness, etc.
- His sudden smile made her go weak at the knees.
the weak link (in the chain)
- the point at which a system or an organization is most likely to fail
- She went straight for the one weak link in the chain of his argument.