WEAK


Meaning of WEAK in English

/ wiːk; NAmE / adjective

( weaker , weakest )

NOT PHYSICALLY STRONG

1.

not physically strong :

She is still weak after her illness.

His legs felt weak.

She suffered from a weak heart.

LIKELY TO BREAK

2.

that cannot support a lot of weight; likely to break :

That bridge is too weak for heavy traffic.

WITHOUT POWER

3.

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.

a weak leader

The unions have always been weak in this industry.

POOR / SICK PEOPLE

4.

the weak noun [ pl. ] people who are poor, sick or without power

CURRENCY / ECONOMY

5.

not financially strong or successful :

a weak currency

The economy is very weak.

NOT GOOD AT STH

6.

weak (in sth) not good at sth :

a weak team

I was always weak in the science subjects.

NOT CONVINCING

7.

that people are not likely to believe or be persuaded by

SYN unconvincing :

weak arguments

I enjoyed the movie but I thought the ending was very weak.

HARD TO SEE / HEAR

8.

not easily seen or heard :

a weak light / signal / sound

WITHOUT ENTHUSIASM

9.

done without enthusiasm or energy :

a weak smile

He made a weak attempt to look cheerful.

LIQUID

10.

a weak liquid contains a lot of water :

weak tea

POINT / SPOT

11.

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.

GRAMMAR

12.

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 )

PHONETICS

13.

( 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 bread and butter /ˌbred n ˈbʌtə(r)/ .

OPP strong

IDIOMS

- weak at the knees

- the weak link (in the chain)

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WORD ORIGIN

Old English wāc pliant , of little worth , not steadfast , reinforced in Middle English by Old Norse veikr , from a Germanic base meaning yield, give way .

Oxford Advanced Learner's English Dictionary.      Оксфордский английский словарь для изучающик язык на продвинутом уровне.