weakness

CEFRB1

/ˈwiːk.nɪs/

noun

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

01
noun
A lack of strength or a personal fault.
02
noun
Extra detail
A special fondness or obsessing desire.

Examples

The weakness of vinyl is that it is easily affected by heat.
Unfair advantage was taken of Bill's weakness.

At a glance

Sits at B1 on the CEFR scale

Senses: 4
Parts of speech: 1
Citations: 4
Synonyms: 5

Also pronounced

[ˈwɪiːk.nɪs]
/ˈwik.nɪs/

Deep Dive

noun

Extra meanings

An inadequate quality; fault.
The condition of being weak.

More examples

In context

The disease causes progressive muscle weakness.
His inability to speak in front of an audience was his weakness.
In a small number of horses, muscle weakness may progress to paralysis.

Quick test

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Question 1 · Quick check

The virus exploits the body's blank in its immune system to infect cells.

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Citations

The word in print, with each source given in full.

The story struck the depressingly familiar note with which true stories ring in the tried ears of experienced policemen. No one queried it. It was in the classic pattern of human weakness, mean and embarrassing and sad.
1963, Margery Allingham, “Eye Witness”, in The China Governess: A Mystery, London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC, page 249
Bradford had preyed on Villa's inability to defend set pieces, corners in particular, in their first-leg win and took advantage of the weakness again as Hanson equalised to restore their two-goal aggregate lead.
2013 January 22, Phil McNulty, “Aston Villa 2-1 Bradford (3-4)”, in BBC
The compulsion to expose, renegotiate, or reinvent the strengths and weaknesses of dance tradition offers little in its final outcome to attract the average dance-goer.
2013, Deborah Hay, My Body, The Buddhist, →ISBN, page 78
Such a male-dominated environment is also likely to contribute to the lingering presence of an outdated belief that expressing feelings and demonstrating emotion is a sign of weakness, deterring some men from discussing their problems.
2020 July 1, Paul Stephen, “Vital Connections”, in Rail, page 41

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Origin

noun

From Middle English wayknesse, weykenesse, replacing earlier Middle English wocnesse, wakenes, wacnesse (“weakness”), from Old English wācnes (“weakness”). Equivalent to weak + -ness.

Deep Dive

noun

More examples

Related

Quick test

The virus exploits the body's blank— in its immune system to infect cells.

Nearby

Origin

noun

The virus exploits the body's blank in its immune system to infect cells.