weaker
- 1Comparative of weak.
The old bridge grew weaker with each passing storm.
Her grip became weaker as the long hours wore on.
Note
Every meaning of weak carries into this comparative, so the noun decides the reading. Weaker tea is more dilute, a weaker beam bears less strain, and a weaker will gives way sooner to persuasion. The comparison need not use than: Richard Foster, writing in RAIL in 2024, set weaker companies against larger ones that swallowed them up.
- 2Said of a proposition that another one entails, but which does not itself entail that other proposition.
Like a wider category: 'a vehicle' covers more than 'a car,' so it claims less about any one thing.
The proposition that the number is even is weaker than the proposition that it equals four.
Because every square is a rectangle, 'it is a rectangle' is weaker than 'it is a square.'
Oppositestronger
Note
Logicians use the word without any hint of criticism. A weaker proposition simply claims less, so it holds in every case where the stronger one holds, and in some others besides. That makes it easier to prove and harder to refute. Unlike the everyday comparative, it names a strict relation: two propositions that entail each other are equivalent, and neither is weaker.
weaker is a form of weak
weak, adjective: Lacking in physical strength, force, or the ability to do something. Full entry
- Spelling
- weak → weaker: add -er
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