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weakling

noun
/ˈwiːkˈlɪŋɡ/

Etymology

From weak + -ling.

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

Definitions

  1. A person of weak or even sickly physical constitution.

  2. A person of weak character, lacking in courage and/or moral strength.

    • c.1551, Hugh Latimer, a sermon in Lincolnshire We may not be weaklings because we have a strong enemy.
    • Donald Trump has lashed out against his own supporters, calling them gullible “weaklings” for questioning the transparency of a secretive government inquiry into the late high-profile socialite and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

  3. weak, either physically, morally or mentally

The neighborhood

Vish — recursive loop

No curated loop yet for weakling. Loops are being traced one word at a time while the ingestion pipeline matures.

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