weakness

I

(New American Roget's College Thesaurus)

Lack of strength

Nouns

1. weakness, feebleness, debility, debilitation, infirmity, decrepitude, inanition; weariness, enervation, impotence; paleness, colorlessness; disability, attenuation, senility, superannuation, malnutrition, atony, asthenia, adynamia, cachexia, hyposthenia, anemia; invalidity, delicacy, frailty, foible, fragility, flaccidity, vapidity; invalidation, adulteration, dilution; vulnerability, perishability, accessibility; milk and water; Achilles' heel. See deterioration.

2. (something weak) reed, thread, rope of sand, house of cards, house built on sand; child, baby, kitten, cat, chicken; water, milk and water, gruel.

3. (weak person) weakling, softling, poor specimen, wimp; invalid, asthenic, hypochondriac; deficient, defective, dunce, imbecile, lackwit, wreck, runt; faintheart, jellyfish, broken reed; weathercock. Informal, sissy, softy, betty, baby, crybaby, whiner; pantywaist, mollycoddle, milksop, namby-pamby, softhead, weak sister, half-pint, nebbish. Slang, doormat, pushover, fancy pants, schnook, wuss, creampuff, dork, dweeb, nerd, punk, marshmallow.

Verbs

1. be weak, faint, drop, crumble, droop, sag, fade, fail, flag, pine, decline, languish, give way, give in; deteriorate, waste, falter, halt, limp; black out; soften, relent, relax, yield, submit, succumb; totter, tremble, dodder, potter, shake, have one foot in the grave. Informal, keel over, cave in. Slang, wuss out.

2. weaken, enfeeble, debilitate, enervate, emasculate, devitalize, etiolate, take the edge off, take the starch out of, wear down; deplete, waste; bate, soften up, slacken, blunt; disintensify; undermine, sap, impair, damage, cripple, lame, maim, disable, paralyze.

3. dilute, thin, cut, water [down], attenuate, adulterate, debase; reduce, depress, lower, lessen, impoverish, invalidate.

Adjectives — weak[ly], feeble, infirm, invalid, debile, senile, decrepit; sickly, poorly, unhealthy, unsound; weakened, enfeebled, etc.; strengthless, impotent, defenseless; anemic, asthenic, atonic, cachectic, hyposthenic, adynamic, bloodless, short-winded; out of shape; faltering, doddering, drooping, etc.; unsteady, shaken, palsied, laid low, weak as a child, baby, or kitten; flimsy, flabby, frail, fragile; effeminate; vulnerable, assailable, indefensible; unsupported, unaided, unassisted. Informal, namby-pamby, wishy-washy; on one's last legs, on one's knees. Slang, woozy, limp-wrist or -dick, wussy.

Phrases — the weakest go to the wall; a chain is no stronger than its weakest link; faint heart never won fair lady.

Quotations — The concessions of the weak are the concessions of fear (Edmund Burke), The weak are strong because they are reckless. The strong are weak because they have scruples (Henrik Ibsen), Ambition, old as mankind, the immemorial weakness of the strong (Vita Sackville-West), The Spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak (Bible), Frequent punishments are always a sign of weakness or laziness on the part of the government (Jean-Jacques Rousseau), The weak, in fact, always prevail over the strong, not only because they are in the majority, but also because they are the more crafty (Friedrich Nietzsche), If we resist our passions, it is due more to their weakness than our own strength (La Rochefoucauld), Only silence is great; all else is weakness (Alfred de Vigny), Three things are weakening: fear, sin, and travel (Talmud).

Antonyms, see strength, power, vigor, resolution.

II

(Roget's IV) n.

1. [The state of being weak]

Syn. feebleness, senility, anility, delicacy, invalidity, frailty, faintness, prostration, anoxia, anoxemia, decrepitude, debility, effeminacy impotence, enervation, dizziness, femininity, infirmity.

Ant. strength*, good health, vitality.

2. [An instance or manner of being weak]

Syn. fault, failing, deficiency, defect, disturbance, lapse, vice, sore point, gap, flaw, instability, indecision, inconstancy, vulnerability.

Ant. virtue*, good, strength.

3. [*Inclination]

Syn. liking, tendency, bent; see hunger , inclination 1 .

See Synonym Study at fault .

III

(Roget's 3 Superthesaurus) n.

1. lack of strength feebleness, exhaustion, depletion of energy, enervation, anemia, frailty, fragility.

2. vulnerability imperfection, flaw, weak spot, *Achilles heel, *chink in one's armor, deficiency, failing, soft underbelly, shortcoming.

3. liking fondness, passion, penchant, taste, appreciation, soft spot, sweet tooth, propensity, inclination.

ANT.: 1. strength, vigor, energy, robustness. 2. strongpoint, strength. 3. aversion, dislike, hatred

IV

(Roget's Thesaurus II) noun 1. The condition of being infirm or physically weak: debility, decrepitude, delicacy, delicateness, feebleness, flimsiness, fragileness, fragility, frailness, frailty, infirmity, insubstantiality, puniness, unsoundness, unsubstantiality, weak-liness. See STRONG. 2. An imperfection of character: failing, fault, foible, frailty, infirmity, shortcoming, weak point. See BETTER, HELP. 3. A liking for something: appetite, fondness, partiality, preference, relish, taste. See LIKE.