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weak

adj
/wi(ː)k/

Etymology

From Middle English weyk, wayk, 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”), Saterland Frisian wook (“soft, gentle, tender”), West Frisian weak (“soft”), Dutch week (“soft, weak”), German weich (“weak, soft”), Norwegian veik (“weak”), Swedish vek (“weak, pliant”), Icelandic veikur (“bendsome, weak”). Related to Old English wīcan (“to yield”). Doublet of week and wick.

  1. derived from *weyk-✻ — “to bend, wind”
  2. derived from *waikwaz✻ — “weak, yielded, pliant, bendsome”
  3. derived from veikr — “weak”
  4. inherited from weyk

Definitions

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

    • The child was too weak to move the boulder.
    • They easily guessed his weak computer password.
    • a poor, infirm, weak, and despised old man

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

    • a weak timber; a weak rope

  3. Limp, soft.

  4. ›+ 14 more definitions

    1. Unable to withstand temptation, urgency, persuasion, etc.

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

      • weak resolutions; weak virtue
      • Guard thy heart / On this weak side, where most our nature fails.

    2. Having a strong, irrepressible emotional love for someone or (less often) something

      Having a strong, irrepressible emotional love for someone or (less often) something; sentimentally affected by such love.

      • 'Cause sugar pie, honey bunch You know that I'm weak for you Can't help myself I love you and nobody else
      • It’s really good to hear your voice Sayin' my name, it sounds so sweet Comin' from the lips of an angel Hearin' those words, it makes me weak

    3. Dilute, lacking in taste or potency.

      • We were served stale bread and weak tea.

    4. Displaying a particular kind of inflection, including

      Displaying a particular kind of inflection, including:

      • The verb to walk is weak because it has a past tense of walked and all forms are inflected by adding the typical suffix (ie is regular) to the stem walk- (ie has no vowel changes).
      • The verb to run is strong, not weak, because the past tense is ran.

    5. That does not ionize completely into anions and cations in a solution.

      • a weak acid
      • a weak base
      • When we say that an acid is weak, we refer only to its degree of dissociation, not to its degree of corrosiveness; but it is true that those two traits often correlate, though.

    6. One of the four fundamental forces associated with nuclear decay.

    7. Bad or uncool.

      • This place is weak.

    8. Having a narrow range of logical consequences

      Having a narrow range of logical consequences; narrowly applicable. (Often contrasted with a strong statement which implies it.)

    9. Resulting from, or indicating, lack of judgment, discernment, or firmness

      Resulting from, or indicating, lack of judgment, discernment, or firmness; unwise; hence, foolish.

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

    10. Not having power to convince

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

      • The prosecution advanced a weak case.
      • convinced of his weak arguing

    11. Lacking in vigour or expression.

      • a weak sentence; a weak style

    12. Not prevalent or effective, or not felt to be prevalent

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

      • Thy threats have no more strength than her weak prayers.

    13. Tending towards lower prices.

      • a weak market; wheat is weak at present

    14. Lacking contrast.

      • a weak negative

The neighborhood

Derived

bring it weak, electroweak, miliweak, nonweak, overweak, piss-weak, piss weak, superweak, the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak, the strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they must, weak AI, weak artificial intelligence, weak as piss, weak as water, weak atheist, weak-bladdered, weak-chinned, weak copyleft, weak declension, weaken, weaker sex, weaker vessel, weakest link, weak-eyed, weakfish, weak force, weak-handed, weak-headed, weak-hearted, weakino, weak interaction, weak in the knees, weakish, weak isospin, weak-kneed, weakling, weak link, weakly, weak mayor, weak-minded · +25 more

Vish — recursive loop

A definitional loop anchored at weak. Each word in the ring is defined by the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself. Scroll to it and watch.

01weak02unable03course04rigged05fixed06unmovable07incapable

A definitional loop anchored at weak. Each word in the ring appears in the definition of the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself.

7 hops · closes at weak

curated · pre-corpus. live cycle detection across the full graph is the next major milestone.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA