not strong; liable to yield, break, or collapse under pressure or strain; fragile; frail: a weak fortress; a weak spot in armor.
2.
lacking in bodily strength or healthy vigor, as from age or sickness; feeble; infirm: a weak old man; weak eyes.
3.
not having much political strength, governing power, or authority: a weak nation; a weak ruler.
4.
lacking in force, potency, or efficacy; impotent, ineffectual, or inadequate: weak sunlight; a weak wind.
5.
lacking in rhetorical or creative force or effectiveness: a weak reply to the charges; one of the author's weakest novels.
6.
lacking in logical or legal force or soundness: a weak argument.
7.
deficient in mental power, intelligence, or judgment: a weak mind.
8.
not having much moral strength or firmness, resolution, or force of character: to prove weak under temptation; weak compliance.
9.
deficient in amount, volume, loudness, intensity, etc.; faint; slight: a weak current of electricity; a weak pulse.
10.
deficient, lacking, or poor in something specified: a hand weak in trumps; I'm weak in spelling.
11.
deficient in the essential or usual properties or ingredients: weak tea.
12.
unstressed, as a syllable, vowel, or word.
13.
(of Germanic verbs) inflected with suffixes, without inherited change of the root vowel, as English work, worked, or having a preterit ending in a dental, as English bring, brought.
14.
(of Germanic nouns and adjectives) inflected with endings originally appropriate to stems terminating in -n, as the adjective alte in German der alte Mann (“the old man”).
15.
(of wheat or flour) having a low gluten content or having a poor quality of gluten.
16.
Photography. thin; not dense.
17.
Commerce. characterized by a decline in prices: The market was weak in the morning but rallied in the afternoon.
[Origin: 1250–1300; ME weik < ON veikr; c. OE wāc, D week, G weich; akin to OE wīcan to yield, give way, ON vīkja to move, turn, draw back, G weichen to yield]
—Synonyms 1. breakable, delicate. 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.
Lacking physical strength, energy, or vigor; feeble.
Likely to fail under pressure, stress, or strain; lacking resistance: a weak link in a chain.
Lacking firmness of character or strength of will.
Lacking the proper strength or amount of ingredients: weak coffee.
Lacking the ability to function normally or fully: a weak heart.
Lacking aptitude or skill: a weak student; weak in math.
Lacking or resulting from a lack of intelligence.
Lacking persuasiveness; unconvincing: a weak argument.
Lacking authority or the power to govern.
Lacking potency or intensity: weak sunlight.
Linguistics
Of, relating to, or being those verbs in Germanic languages that form a past tense and past participle by means of a dental suffix, as start, started; have, had; bring, brought.
Of, relating to, or being the inflection of nouns or adjectives in Germanic languages with a declensional suffix that historically contained an n.
Unstressed or unaccented in pronunciation or poetic meter. Used of a word or syllable.
Designating a verse ending in which the metrical stress falls on a word or syllable that is unstressed in normal speech, such as a preposition.
Tending downward in price: a weak market for oil stocks.
[Middle English weike, from Old Norse veikr, pliant; see weik-2 in Indo-European roots.]
Synonyms: These adjectives mean lacking or showing a lack of strength. Weak is the most widely applicable: "These poor wretches ... were so weak they could hardly sit to their oars" (Daniel Defoe).
Feeble suggests pathetic or grievous physical or mental weakness or hopeless inadequacy: a feeble intellect; a feeble effort. Frail implies delicacy and inability to endure or withstand: "an aged thrush, frail, gaunt, and small" (Thomas Hardy.)
What is fragile is easily broken, damaged, or destroyed: a fragile, expensive vase; a fragile state of mind after the accident. Infirm implies enfeeblement: "a poor, infirm, weak, and despis'd old man" (Shakespeare).
Decrepit describes what is weakened, worn out, or broken down by hard use or the passage of time: a decrepit building slated for demolition. Debilitated suggests a gradual impairment of energy or strength: a debilitated constitution further weakened by overwork.
c.1300, from O.N. veikr "weak," cognate with O.E. wac "weak, pliant, soft," from P.Gmc. *waikwaz "yield," *wikanan "bend" (cf. O.S. wek, Swed. vek, M.Du. weec, Du. week "weak, soft, tender," O.H.G. weih "yielding, soft," Ger. weich "soft," from PIE base *weik- "to bend, wind" (see vicarious). Sense of "lacking authority" is first recorded 1423; that of "lacking moral strength" c.1375. Weaken (v.) is recorded from 1530; the earlier verb was simply weak (c.1374). Weak-kneed "wanting in resolve" is from 1870.
(used of vowels or syllables) pronounced with little or no stress; "a syllable that ends in a short vowel is a light syllable"; "a weak stress on the second syllable" [syn: unaccented]
4.
wanting in moral strength, courage, or will; having the attributes of man as opposed to e.g. divine beings; "I'm only a fallible human"; "frail humanity" [syn: fallible]
5.
tending downward in price; "a weak market for oil stocks"
6.
deficient or lacking in some skill; "he's weak in spelling"
7.
lacking bodily or muscular strength or vitality; "a feeble old woman"; "her body looked sapless" [syn: decrepit]
8.
(used of verbs) having standard (or regular) inflection
9.
not having authority, political strength, or governing power; "a weak president"
10.
deficient in magnitude; barely perceptible; lacking clarity or brightness or loudness etc; "a faint outline"; "the wan sun cast faint shadows"; "the faint light of a distant candle"; "weak colors"; "a faint hissing sound"; "a faint aroma"; "a weak pulse" [syn: faint]
11.
likely to fail under stress or pressure; "the weak link in the chain"
12.
deficient in intelligence or mental power; "a weak mind"
Weak\, a. 1. (Stock Exchange) Tending toward a lower price or lower prices; as, wheat is weak; a weak market. 2. (Card Playing) Lacking in good cards; deficient as to number or strength; as, a hand weak in trumps. 3. (Photog.) Lacking contrast; as, a weak negative.
Strong\, a. [Compar. Stronger; superl. Strongest.] [AS. strang, strong; akin to D. & G. streng strict, rigorous, OHG. strengi strong, brave, harsh, Icel. strangr strong, severe, Dan. streng, Sw. str["a]ng strict, severe. Cf. Strength, Stretch, String.]1. Having active physical power, or great physical power to act; having a power of exerting great bodily force; vigorous. That our oxen may be strong to labor. --Ps. cxliv. 14. Orses the strong to greater strength must yield. --Dryden. 2. Having passive physical power; having ability to bear or endure; firm; hale; sound; robust; as, a strong constitution; strong health. 3. Solid; tough; not easily broken or injured; able to withstand violence; able to sustain attacks; not easily subdued or taken; as, a strong beam; a strong rock; a strong fortress or town. 4. Having great military or naval force; powerful; as, a strong army or fleet; a nation strong at sea. 5. Having great wealth, means, or resources; as, a strong house, or company of merchants. 6. Reaching a certain degree or limit in respect to strength or numbers; as, an army ten thousand strong. 7. Moving with rapidity or force; violent; forcible; impetuous; as, a strong current of water or wind; the wind was strong from the northeast; a strong tide. 8. Adapted to make a deep or effectual impression on the mind or imagination; striking or superior of the kind; powerful; forcible; cogent; as, a strong argument; strong reasons; strong evidence; a strong example; strong language. 9. Ardent; eager; zealous; earnestly engaged; as, a strong partisan; a strong Whig or Tory. Her mother, ever strong against that match. --Shak. 10. Having virtues of great efficacy; or, having a particular quality in a great degree; as, a strong powder or tincture; a strong decoction; strong tea or coffee. 11. Full of spirit; containing a large proportion of alcohol; intoxicating; as, strong liquors. 12. Affecting any sense powerfully; as, strong light, colors, etc.; a strong flavor of onions; a strong scent. 13. Solid; nourishing; as, strong meat. --Heb. v. 12. 14. Well established; firm; not easily overthrown or altered; as, a strong custom; a strong belief. 15. Violent; vehement; earnest; ardent. He had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears. --Heb. v. 7. 16. Having great force, vigor, power, or the like, as the mind, intellect, or any faculty; as, a man of a strong mind, memory, judgment, or imagination. I was stronger in prophecy than in criticism. --Dryden. 17. Vigorous; effective; forcible; powerful. Like her sweet voice is thy harmonious song, As high, as sweet, as easy, and as strong. --E. Smith. 18. (Stock Exchange) Tending to higher prices; rising; as, a strong market. 19. (Gram.) (a) Pertaining to, or designating, a verb which forms its preterit (imperfect) by a variation in the root vowel, and the past participle (usually) by the addition of -en (with or without a change of the root vowel); as in the verbs strive, strove, striven; break, broke, broken; drink, drank, drunk. Opposed to weak, or regular. See Weak. (b) Applied to forms in Anglo-Saxon, etc., which retain the old declensional endings. In the Teutonic languages the vowel stems have held the original endings most firmly, and are called strong; the stems in -n are called weak other constant stems conform, or are irregular. --F. A. March. Strong conjugation (Gram.), the conjugation of a strong verb; -- called also old, or irregular, conjugation, and distinguished from the weak, or regular, conjugation. Note: Strong is often used in the formation of self-explaining compounds; as, strong-backed, strong-based, strong-bodied, strong-colored, strong-fisted, strong-handed, strong-ribbed, strong-smelling, strong-voiced, etc. Syn: Vigorous; powerful; stout; solid; firm; hardy; muscular; forcible; cogent; valid. See Robust.
Strong\, a. [Compar. Stronger; superl. Strongest.] [AS. strang, strong; akin to D. & G. streng strict, rigorous, OHG. strengi strong, brave, harsh, Icel. strangr strong, severe, Dan. streng, Sw. str["a]ng strict, severe. Cf. Strength, Stretch, String.]1. Having active physical power, or great physical power to act; having a power of exerting great bodily force; vigorous. That our oxen may be strong to labor. --Ps. cxliv. 14. Orses the strong to greater strength must yield. --Dryden. 2. Having passive physical power; having ability to bear or endure; firm; hale; sound; robust; as, a strong constitution; strong health. 3. Solid; tough; not easily broken or injured; able to withstand violence; able to sustain attacks; not easily subdued or taken; as, a strong beam; a strong rock; a strong fortress or town. 4. Having great military or naval force; powerful; as, a strong army or fleet; a nation strong at sea. 5. Having great wealth, means, or resources; as, a strong house, or company of merchants. 6. Reaching a certain degree or limit in respect to strength or numbers; as, an army ten thousand strong. 7. Moving with rapidity or force; violent; forcible; impetuous; as, a strong current of water or wind; the wind was strong from the northeast; a strong tide. 8. Adapted to make a deep or effectual impression on the mind or imagination; striking or superior of the kind; powerful; forcible; cogent; as, a strong argument; strong reasons; strong evidence; a strong example; strong language. 9. Ardent; eager; zealous; earnestly engaged; as, a strong partisan; a strong Whig or Tory. Her mother, ever strong against that match. --Shak. 10. Having virtues of great efficacy; or, having a particular quality in a great degree; as, a strong powder or tincture; a strong decoction; strong tea or coffee. 11. Full of spirit; containing a large proportion of alcohol; intoxicating; as, strong liquors. 12. Affecting any sense powerfully; as, strong light, colors, etc.; a strong flavor of onions; a strong scent. 13. Solid; nourishing; as, strong meat. --Heb. v. 12. 14. Well established; firm; not easily overthrown or altered; as, a strong custom; a strong belief. 15. Violent; vehement; earnest; ardent. He had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears. --Heb. v. 7. 16. Having great force, vigor, power, or the like, as the mind, intellect, or any faculty; as, a man of a strong mind, memory, judgment, or imagination. I was stronger in prophecy than in criticism. --Dryden. 17. Vigorous; effective; forcible; powerful. Like her sweet voice is thy harmonious song, As high, as sweet, as easy, and as strong. --E. Smith. 18. (Stock Exchange) Tending to higher prices; rising; as, a strong market. 19. (Gram.) (a) Pertaining to, or designating, a verb which forms its preterit (imperfect) by a variation in the root vowel, and the past participle (usually) by the addition of -en (with or without a change of the root vowel); as in the verbs strive, strove, striven; break, broke, broken; drink, drank, drunk. Opposed to weak, or regular. See Weak. (b) Applied to forms in Anglo-Saxon, etc., which retain the old declensional endings. In the Teutonic languages the vowel stems have held the original endings most firmly, and are called strong; the stems in -n are called weak other constant stems conform, or are irregular. --F. A. March. Strong conjugation (Gram.), the conjugation of a strong verb; -- called also old, or irregular, conjugation, and distinguished from the weak, or regular, conjugation. Note: Strong is often used in the formation of self-explaining compounds; as, strong-backed, strong-based, strong-bodied, strong-colored, strong-fisted, strong-handed, strong-ribbed, strong-smelling, strong-voiced, etc. Syn: Vigorous; powerful; stout; solid; firm; hardy; muscular; forcible; cogent; valid. See Robust.
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