- 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 Health problemsa2- 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
Definitions on the go
Look up any word in the dictionary offline, anytime, anywhere with the Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary app.
- 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
See weak in the Oxford Advanced American DictionarySee weak in the Oxford Learner's Dictionary of Academic Englishthe 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.
Check pronunciation:
weak