weak

Less common meanings

12. 12
    deeply fondadjective

    Filled with a strong, irrepressible love for someone or, less often, something; deeply moved by that love.

    Every time she smiled at him across the room, he felt weak with love.

    Writing her name in the margins of his notebook, he knew he was hopelessly weak for the girl next door.

    UsageUsually weak for someone; without for, often go weak or make someone weak: she went weak at the knees.

    Similarsmitten, besotted

13. 13
    nuclear forceadjective

    Designating one of the four fundamental forces of nature, responsible for certain forms of nuclear decay.

    The weak force governs the beta decay of unstable atomic nuclei.

    Compared with electromagnetism, the weak interaction operates over an extremely short range.

    Oppositestrong

    Note

    A name rather than a description. Physicists speak of the weak force or the weak interaction, one of the four fundamental forces. It drives beta decay in unstable nuclei and acts only over subatomic distances. The adjective works as part of a fixed label. It is not graded or compared the way the everyday sense is. Source

    Checked 6 Nov 2026 · 3 facts

    • The weak force is one of the four fundamental forces. openstax.org
    • The weak interaction causes beta decay in unstable nuclei. energy.gov
    • The weak force has a subatomic effective range. home.web.cern.ch
14. 14
    adjective

    Of an acid, base, or electrolyte: forming ions only partly when dissolved in solution.

    Acetic acid is a weak acid that only partially ionizes in water.

    Ammonia behaves as a weak base, leaving most of its molecules intact in solution.

    Oppositestrong

    Note

    Chemists mean something narrow by it: how far an acid or base forms ions in solution, not how dangerous it is. A weak acid can still be corrosive: hydrofluoric acid is weak, yet it attacks even glass. Nor is it the "watered-down" sense, because a weak acid need not be dilute. The word pairs most often with acid, base and electrolyte.

15. 15
    low contrastadjective

    Of an image, negative, or print: lacking contrast between light and dark tones.

    The negative came out weak, with shadows and highlights blending into flat gray.

    A weak print lacks the punch that strong tonal separation provides.

    Similarflat

    Oppositestrong, contrasty

    Note

    A darkroom judgment about tonal separation, not brightness. A weak negative may be light or dark overall and still disappoint, because its tones crowd together into a narrow band of grays. The word applies to the negative as readily as to the finished print, which is where the flatness finally shows. Source

    Checked 6 Nov 2026 · 2 facts

    • A low-contrast negative can be dark overall; low contrast is distinct from overall density. upload.wikimedia.org
    • A light, thin negative can also have very little contrast. upload.wikimedia.org
16. 16
    adjectivephonetics

    Describing a syllable, or a form of a word, that is spoken unstressed and usually with a reduced vowel, as in normal flowing speech.

    Many function words, such as "of" and "to," have a weak form that speakers use in rapid conversation.

    Learners who give every syllable full stress sound stiff, because English rhythm depends on weak syllables.

    Similarunstressed, reduced

    Oppositestrong, stressed

    Note

    A phonetician's term, paired with strong. Many short grammar words have both: a strong form for when the word is stressed or ends a phrase, and a weak form for ordinary running speech, its vowel usually reduced to schwa. To is /tə/ in I want to go but keeps its full vowel in Where are you going to? Source

    Checked 6 Nov 2026 · 2 facts

    • Many function words have strong and weak forms, with strong forms used under stress or phrase-finally and weak forms commonly containing schwa. en.wikipedia.org
    • The examples illustrate the weak pronunciation /tə/ before a consonant and the strong pronunciation /tuː/ in sentence-final position. martinweisser.org
17. 17
    regular (verbs)adjective

    Of a verb: forming its past tense and past participle with a -d or -t ending (play, played; keep, kept) rather than by a change of the stem vowel alone, as in sing, sang.

    Verbs like 'play' and 'jump' are weak, taking a regular -ed ending in the past.

    Over the centuries English turned many strong verbs into weak ones, so 'help' now has 'helped' instead of the old 'holp'.

    Similarregular

    Oppositestrong

    Note

    Grammarians of the Germanic languages sort verbs by how they form the past. Weak verbs add a dental suffix, -d- or -t-, as in play and played. The other class changes the vowel inside the root, as in sing and sang. English regular verbs are all weak, but some weak verbs, such as keep and kept, are irregular. The same weak-versus-strong labels carry over to nouns and adjectives, where they track different things. Source

    Checked 6 Nov 2026 · 6 facts

    • Germanic verbs are classified by how they form the past tense. en.wikipedia.org
    • Weak verbs form their past tense with a dental suffix. en.wikipedia.org
    • Play has the past tense played. en.wiktionary.org
    • Strong verbs mark the past tense through stem-vowel change, as in sing–sang. en.wikipedia.org
    • English regular verbs are weak, but some weak verbs are irregular, including keep–kept. en.wiktionary.org
    • Strong and weak also label noun and adjective declensions, using different criteria from verb classification. en.wikipedia.org
18. 18
    adjective

    Of a statement or claim: asserting less than a stronger one, so that it follows from the stronger claim but does not imply it.
19. 19
    adjective

    In grammar, of a noun or adjective: having the set of endings (the weak declension) that marks case less distinctly, used in languages such as German especially after a definite article or similar word.