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WEAK: Synonyms and Related Words. What is Another Word for WEAK?

Need another word that means the same as “weak”? Find 67 synonyms and 30 related words for “weak” in this overview.

Table Of Contents:

Weak as an Adjective
Definitions of "Weak" as an adjective
Synonyms of "Weak" as an adjective (67 Words)
Usage Examples of "Weak" as an adjective
Associations of "Weak" (30 Words)

The synonyms of “Weak” are: faint, light, unaccented, washy, watery, fallible, frail, imperfect, debile, decrepit, feeble, infirm, rickety, sapless, weakly, puny, fragile, delicate, inadequate, poor, unconvincing, untenable, tenuous, implausible, unsatisfactory, slight, thin, transparent, irresolute, spineless, craven, cowardly, pusillanimous, timorous, timid, indecisive, ineffectual, useless, inept, effete, meek, tame, powerless, ineffective, impotent, namby-pamby, soft, lily-livered, faint-hearted, dim, pale, wan, dull, muted, diluted, dilute, thinned down, adulterated, tasteless, flavourless, bland, insipid, mild, unenthusiastic, half-hearted, limp, lame

Weak as an Adjective

Definitions of "Weak" as an adjective

According to the Oxford Dictionary of English, “weak” as an adjective can have the following definitions:

Liable to break or give way under pressure; easily damaged.
Having standard (or regular) inflection.
Wanting in physical strength.
Not having authority, political strength, or governing power.
(of prices or a market) having a downward tendency.
Exerting only a small force.
(of a faculty or part of the body) not able to fulfil its functions properly.
Tending downward in price.
Lacking the force of character to hold to one's own decisions, beliefs, or principles; irresolute.
Lacking intensity or brightness.
(of a team or military force) containing too few members or members of insufficient quality.
Displaying or characterized by a lack of enthusiasm or energy.
Lacking bodily or muscular strength or vitality.
Not convincing or logically forceful.
Overly diluted; thin and insipid.
Lacking power or influence.
Of a low standard; performing or performed badly.
Deficient in intelligence or mental power.
Lacking the power to perform physically demanding tasks; having little physical strength or energy.
(used of verbs) having standard (or regular) inflection.
(of a belief) not held with conviction or intensity.
(of features) not striking or strongly marked.
(used of vowels or syllables) pronounced with little or no stress.
Deficient in magnitude; barely perceptible; lacking clarity or brightness or loudness etc.
(of a syllable) unstressed.
Wanting in moral strength, courage, or will; having the attributes of man as opposed to e.g. divine beings.
Denoting a class of verbs in Germanic languages that form the past tense and past participle by addition of a suffix (in English, typically -ed).
Likely to fail under stress or pressure.
Deficient or lacking in some skill.
(of a liquid or solution) heavily diluted.
Pronounced with little or no stress.
Relating to or denoting the weakest of the known kinds of force between particles, which acts only at distances less than about 10⁻¹⁵ cm, is very much weaker than the electromagnetic and the strong interactions, and conserves neither strangeness, parity, nor isospin.

Synonyms of "Weak" as an adjective (67 Words)

adulterated	Mixed with impurities.
bland	Lacking taste or flavor or tang. A bland* and unadventurous vegetarian dish.*
cowardly	Lacking courage. Cowardly dogs ye will not aid me then.
craven	Lacking even the rudiments of courage; abjectly fearful- Spenser. A craven* abdication of his moral duty.*
debile	Lacking bodily or muscular strength or vitality.
decrepit	Lacking bodily or muscular strength or vitality. A decrepit* bus its seats held together with friction tape.*
delicate	(of food or drink) subtly and pleasantly flavoured. Delicate negotiations with the big powers.
dilute	(of colour or light) weak or low in concentration. Dilute sun.
diluted	Made weaker in force, content, or value by modification. Diluted alcohol.
dim	Made dim or less bright. Dimmed headlights.
dull	Emitting or reflecting very little light. A dull* political campaign.*
effete	Deprived of vigor and the ability to be effective. He chatted away exercising his rather effete* charm.*
faint	Indistinctly understood or felt or perceived. Haven t the faintest idea.
faint-hearted	Lacking conviction or boldness or courage.
fallible	Wanting in moral strength, courage, or will; having the attributes of man as opposed to e.g. divine beings. Everyone is fallible* to some degree.*
feeble	Lacking strength. Her feeble* cries of pain.*
flavourless	Lacking taste or flavor or tang. The soup was thin and flavourless.
fragile	Vulnerably delicate. She has the fragile* beauty of youth.*
frail	Easily broken or damaged or destroyed. She looked frail* and vulnerable.*
half-hearted	Feeling or showing little interest or enthusiasm.
imperfect	(of a gift, title, etc.) transferred without all the necessary conditions or requirements being met. Imperfect mortals.
implausible	Highly imaginative but unlikely. This is a blatantly implausible* claim.*
impotent	Lacking power or ability- Freeman J.Dyson. He was seized with an impotent* anger.*
inadequate	Lacking the requisite qualities or resources to meet a task. A sad solitary inadequate* man.*
indecisive	Not providing a clear and definite result. He was too indecisive* to carry out his political programme.*
ineffective	Lacking in power or forcefulness. An ineffective* teacher.*
ineffectual	(of a person) lacking the ability or qualities to fulfil a role or handle a situation. The therapy was ineffectual.
inept	Generally incompetent and ineffectual. Inept handling of the account.
infirm	Lacking bodily or muscular strength or vitality. Those who were old or infirm.
insipid	Lacking vigour or interest. Many artists continued to churn out insipid* shallow works.*
irresolute	Showing or feeling hesitancy; uncertain. The committee was timid and mediocre and irresolute.
lame	(of a person) naive or socially inept. The TV licensing teams hear a lot of lame* excuses.*
light	Characterized by or emitting light. A light* load.*
lily-livered	Easily frightened.
limp	Lacking in strength or firmness or resilience G.K.Chesterton. A limp* gesture as if waving away all desire to know.*
meek	Very docile- Langston Hughes. She brought her meek* little husband along.*
mild	Mild and pleasant. A mild* rebuke.*
muted	(of a sound or voice) quiet and soft. A dress in muted* tones of powder blue and dusty pink.*
namby-pamby	Weak in willpower, courage or vitality.
pale	Abnormally deficient in color as suggesting physical or emotional distress. The pale* or wan stars.*
poor	Of a low or inferior standard or quality. The area was poor* in timber and coal.*
powerless	Lacking power. Troops were powerless* to stop last night s shooting.*
puny	Inferior in strength or significance. Puny excuses.
pusillanimous	Lacking in courage and manly strength and resolution; contemptibly fearful.
rickety	Inclined to shake as from weakness or defect. Rickety limbs and joints.
sapless	Destitute of sap and other vital juices; dry- Norman Mailer. Her body looked sapless.
slight	(of a person or their build) not sturdy; thin or slender. A slight* increase.*
soft	Soft and mild not harsh or stern or severe. The soft* sciences.*
spineless	Having no spine or backbone; invertebrate. Spineless forms of prickly pear have been selected.
tame	Brought from wildness into a domesticated state. Tame animals.
tasteless	Lacking flavour. The vegetables were watery and tasteless.
tenuous	Lacking substance or significance. A tenuous* cloud.*
thin	Relatively thin in consistency or low in density not viscous. His thin* jacket.*
thinned down	Relatively thin in consistency or low in density; not viscous.
timid	Showing a lack of courage or confidence; easily frightened. I was too timid* to ask for what I wanted.*
timorous	Showing or suffering from nervousness or a lack of confidence. In a timorous* tone.*
transparent	Having thoughts or feelings that are easily perceived; open. A transparent* lie.*
unaccented	Pronounced with little or no stress. His English is fluent and unaccented.
unconvincing	Not convincing. She felt the lie was unconvincing.
unenthusiastic	Not enthusiastic; lacking excitement or ardor. An unenthusiastic* performance by the orchestra.*
unsatisfactory	Not giving satisfaction. Her performance proved to be unsatisfactory.
untenable	(of theories etc) incapable of being defended or justified. This argument is clearly untenable.
useless	Not fulfilling or not expected to achieve the intended purpose or desired outcome. A piece of useless* knowledge.*
wan	(of the sea) without lustre; dark and gloomy. A wan* smile.*
washy	Overly diluted; thin and insipid. Washy coffee.
watery	Thin or tasteless as a result of containing too much water. Watery milk.
weakly	Sickly; not robust. If the lambs were weakly* we had to feed them by hand.*

Usage Examples of "Weak" as an adjective

She was recovering from flu, and was very weak.
She managed a weak, nervous smile.
A weak market for oil stocks.
A weak president.
The central government had grown too weak to impose order.
His beard covered a weak chin.
A weak pulse.
A weak plot.
The weak link in the chain.
The choruses on this recording are weak.
He had a weak stomach.
Weak colors.
Weak tea.
The new king used his powers to protect the weak.
A weak pillar.
The argument is an extremely weak one.
A weak stress on the second syllable.
He's weak in spelling.
A weak mind.
A weak magnetic field.
Their commitment to the project is weak.
The salamander's tail may be broken off at a weak spot near the base.
He was not weak or a compromiser.
Their problems arose from fielding weak teams in league matches.
A weak light from a single street lamp.
A cup of weak coffee.

Associations of "Weak" (30 Words)

breakable	Things which are fragile and easily broken. Pack the breakables separately.
brittle	A brittle sweet made from nuts and set melted sugar. Peanut brittle.
craven	Lacking even the rudiments of courage; abjectly fearful- Spenser. A craven* proposal to raise the white flag.*
debilitated	Lacking strength or vigor. A debilitated* patient.*
decrepit	Worn out or ruined because of age or neglect. A row of decrepit* houses.*
delicate	A delicate fabric or garment. The delicate* wing of a butterfly.*
drooping	Hanging down (as from exhaustion or weakness. Lilacs with drooping* panicles of fragrant flowers.*
effete	Affected, over-refined, and ineffectual. The young man spoke in effete* accented English.*
emaciated	Very thin especially from disease or hunger or cold. She was so emaciated* she could hardly stand.*
emaciation	Extreme leanness (usually caused by starvation or disease. Thin to the point of emaciation.
feckless	Lacking initiative or strength of character; irresponsible. Feckless attempts to repair the plumbing.
feeble	Pathetically lacking in force or effectiveness. I know it s feeble* but I ve never been one to stand up for myself.*
flagging	A walk of flagstones. She wants to revive her flagging* career.*
fragile	(of a person) not strong or sturdy; delicate and vulnerable. A small fragile* old lady.*
fragility	The quality of being easily broken or damaged. His emotional fragility.
frail	The weight of a frail basket full of raisins or figs between 50 and 75 pounds. The balcony is frail.
impotent	Unable to take effective action; helpless or powerless. He was on medication which had made him impotent.
ineffective	Lacking in power or forcefulness. The legal sanctions against oil spills are virtually ineffective.
ineffectual	Not producing an intended effect. An ineffectual* campaign.*
infirm	Not physically or mentally strong, especially through age or illness. Infirm of purpose give me the daggers.
languid	(of a period of time) relaxed and peaceful. She was pale languid* and weak as if she had delivered a child.*
limp	A tendency to limp a gait impeded by injury or stiffness. He limped heavily as he moved.
powerless	Lacking power. Troops were powerless* to stop last night s shooting.*
puny	(used especially of persons) of inferior size. Puny excuses.
rickety	Lacking bodily or muscular strength or vitality. A rickety* banking system.*
spineless	Weak in willpower, courage or vitality. Spineless forms of prickly pear have been selected.
vulnerable	(of a person) in need of special care, support, or protection because of age, disability, or risk of abuse or neglect. We were in a vulnerable* position.*
wan	(of light) lacking in intensity or brightness; dim or feeble. A wan* smile.*
weakly	In a way that lacks strength or force. She leaned weakly* against the wall.*
wimp	A hypothetical subatomic particle of large mass that interacts weakly with ordinary matter through gravitation; postulated as a constituent of the dark matter of the universe. Anyone who wimped out because of the weather missed the experience of a lifetime.