weaknessn.
/ˈwiːknᵻs/, U.S. /ˈwiknᵻs/ 1. The quality or condition of being weak, in any sense of the adjective; deficiency of strength, power, or force.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > ill health > [noun] > weakness
faintise1297
weaknessa1300
faintc1320
feebleness1340
languishingc1384
lamea1400
unferea1400
unferenessa1400
unwielda1400
impotence1406
imbecility?a1425
languisha1425
languoringa1438
unwieldness1437
faintnessa1440
impotency1440
infirmityc1440
debility1484
unlustiness1486
resolution1547
unwieldiness1575
languishment1576
infirmness1596
weakness1603
prostrationa1626
exolution1634
languidness1634
prosternation1650
faintingnessa1661
debilitude1669
flaccidity1676
atony1693
puniness1727
faintishness1733
adynamia1743
asthenia1802
adynamy1817
weakliness1826
tonelessness1873
atonicity1900
the world > life > the body > bodily constitution > bodily weakness > [noun]
wokenessc1000
unstrengthc1175
frailnessa1300
weaknessa1300
brotelhede1340
frailtyc1384
tendernessa1387
slackness1398
unmain?a1400
unmight?a1400
feebility1413
fragility1474
infirmity1590
strengthlessness1666
feebleness1684
akrasia1806
weediness1860
the world > action or operation > manner of action > lack of violence, severity, or intensity > [noun] > weakness of immaterial things
weaknessa1300
feebleness1340
waterishnessa1603
faintnessa1716
flaccidity1778
saplessness1851
flabbiness1883
the world > action or operation > harm or detriment > disadvantage > uselessness > uselessness, vanity, or futility > [noun] > inefficacy
weakness1526
uneffectualness1598
inefficacy1623
inefficaciousness1646
ineffectualness1650
ineffectuality1670
inefficacity1721
inefficiency1749
inefficience1797
effeteness1862
the mind > mental capacity > belief > uncertainty, doubt, hesitation > unreliability > [noun] > weakness, instability
ticklenessc1390
infirmness1596
precariousness1666
weakness1686
shakiness1862
ricketiness1867
rockiness1897
wonkiness1982
the world > action or operation > manner of action > lack of violence, severity, or intensity > [noun]
neshnesseOE
measurea1393
temperateness1398
lightness?a1425
moderation?a1425
cool1562
mildness1605
weakness1707
society > authority > lack of power > [noun]
un-i-waldeOE
impotencea1420
debility1525
unpowerfulness1625
impuissance1645
imprevalencea1656
imprevalencya1656
impuissancy1701
weakness1838
a1300 Cursor Mundi 27054 Botes thre, Quar-wit þat we mai strenghed be. Þe first for waikenes of vr fa Þat qua-sum will mai were him fra.
a1300 Cursor Mundi 28932 [Of alms-giving] ‘Weiknes’ sal þou lok for mede, For þou man agh all helpe in nede, Þe waikest and þe mast vn-fere.
1340 R. Rolle Pricke of Conscience 9026 Alle þe strenthe of Sampson þat was pereles, War noght tald þare bot wayknes.
c1440 Promptorium Parvulorum 520/2 Weykenesse, of hert, vecordia, pusillanimitas.
1526 Grete Herball clxxi. sig. Lj/1 Agaynst vomyte caused of weykenesse of the vertue reteyne, take [etc.].
a1538 T. Starkey Dial. Pole & Lupset (1989) 29 Wych thyng [sc. retirement from the world] surely ys not a mys downe of them, wych perceyve theyr owne imbecyllyte & wekenes.
c1540 (?a1400) Destr. Troy 3323 Syn weikenes of wemen may not wele stryve, Ne haue no myght tawardes men maistries to fend.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Julius Caesar (1623) iv. ii. 327 I thinke it is the weakenesse of mine eyes That shapes this monstrous Apparition. View more context for this quotation
a1616 W. Shakespeare King John (1623) v. iii. 17 To my Litter straight, Weaknesse possesseth me, and I am faint. View more context for this quotation
1651 T. Hobbes Leviathan iii. xxxvii. 236 And so make the weaknesse of his voice seem to proceed..from distance of place.
1678 Lady Chaworth in 12th Rep. Royal Comm. Hist. MSS (1890) App. v. 45 Lady Portsmouth [is] going to Bourbon as soone as her weaknesse will permitt.
1686 J. Tillotson Serm. at White-Hall (1 Cor. iii. 15) 19 I shall shew the weakness of the principle upon which this argument relies.
1707 tr. P. Le Lorrain de Vallemont Curiosities in Husbandry & Gardening 259 The weakness of the Sun in that Season.
1748 S. Richardson Clarissa VI. lxxxiii. 302 They depend upon the indulgent weakness of their parents tempers.
1769 ‘Junius’ Stat Nominis Umbra (1772) I. xvi. 108 The man, who is conscious of the weakness of his cause, is interested in concealing it.
1774 W. Mitford Ess. Harmony Lang. 153 The expression of the 829 line is much heightened by the extreme weakness of the accent in the first foot [etc.].
1781 R. Burns Let. 27 Dec. (2001) I. 6 The weakness of my nerves.
1787 L. L. Orr Jrnl. Young Lady Virginia (1871) 22 Nancy was much better... Weakness is her only complaint.
1806 W. Cruise Digest Laws Eng. Real Prop. VI. 150 Where..the testator..was incapable of making a will from weakness of mind.
1821 C. Lamb Witches in Elia 1st Ser. in Wks. (1908) I. 554 Credulity is the man's weakness, but the child's strength.
1838 W. H. Prescott Hist. Reign Ferdinand & Isabella III. ii. xxiii. 348 The independence of Navarre had hitherto been maintained less through its own strength than the weakness, of its neighbours.
1856 E. K. Kane Arctic Explor. I. xxiii. 301 He was startled by the growing weakness of the ice.
1861 M. Pattison in Westm. Rev. Apr. 405 The weakness of Henry III would not suffer him to commit himself heartily to a Ghibelline policy.
1869 T. H. Tanner Clin. Med. (ed. 2) 20 Dementia... This form of insanity is often seen in those who in early life exhibit weakness of will, or of moral self-control.
1875 Economist 23 Jan. 95/2 The special causes of weakness affecting the markets have..been greatly influential here.
1884 Law Times Rep. 50 118/2 Rule 15..is a rule meant to make a litigant expose the weakness of his case.
1920 Conquest Nov. 7/2 The mountains..are lines of weakness caused by the crumpling of the earth's crust.
2. In particularized uses.† c. A weakened condition of body; an attack of faintness. Obsolete.
a. A weak point, a circumstance of disadvantage.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > goodness and badness > inferiority or baseness > imperfection > [noun] > an imperfection > a weakness
leak1597
weakness1597
a screw loose1810
1597 F. Bacon Ess. f. 13 If you would worke any man, you must either know his nature, and fashions and so leade him,..or his weakenesses or disaduantages, and so awe him.
a1631 J. Donne Serm. (1956) VIII. 109 Here, it is a faire portion of that Angelicall happinesse, if you be alwaies ready to support, and supply one another in any such occasionall weaknesses.
1914 ‘I. Hay’ Knight on Wheels xix The brakes of the Britannia cars have always been their weakness.
1920 Discovery Apr. 114/1 Any weakness there was in our pre-war small house design was a tendency to fussiness.
b. An infirmity of character, a failing.
ΘΚΠ
society > morality > moral evil > evil nature or character > [noun] > moral weakness > a moral weakness
debilitya1533
frailtya1616
weakness1645
foible1673
feeble1678
foiblesse1685
weak point1827
the mind > will > decision > irresolution or vacillation > inconstancy > [noun] > weakness of character or will
unmighteOE
frailnessa1300
infirmityc1384
debility1474
brittleness1493
brucklenessc1500
weak side1668
weakness1748
washiness1763
feebleness1809–10
enervation1849
weak-mindedness1854
feet of clay1859
will-lessness1865
bonelessness1869
molluscousness1870
limpness1873
backbonelessness1882
invertebracy1882
weak-kneedness1882
invertebrateness1884
spinelessness1920
gutlessness1936
1645 J. Howell Epistolæ Ho-elianæ v. xii. 15 I shall heartily thank you,..if you tell me of my weaknesses.
1671 J. Milton Samson Agonistes 773 Dal[ila]..First granting, as I do, it was a weakness In me, but incident to all our sex, Curiosity. View more context for this quotation
1711 J. Addison Spectator No. 255. ¶10 This very Thirst after Fame..is it self looked upon as a Weakness in the greatest Characters.
1748 Ld. Chesterfield Let. 29 Oct. (1932) (modernized text) IV. 1253 Not to seem to perceive the little weaknesses, and the idle but innocent affectations of the company.
1776 E. Gibbon Decline & Fall I. xiv. 440 The laws of Constantine against rapes were dictated with very little indulgence, for the most amiable weaknesses of human nature.
1811 J. Austen Sense & Sensibility III. xiii. 254 His heart was now open to Elinor, all its weaknesses, all its errors confessed. View more context for this quotation
a1859 T. B. Macaulay Hist. Eng. (1861) V. xxv. 256 Many who could not help smiling at Burnet's weaknesses did justice to his abilities and virtues.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > ill health > [noun] > weakness
faintise1297
weaknessa1300
faintc1320
feebleness1340
languishingc1384
lamea1400
unferea1400
unferenessa1400
unwielda1400
impotence1406
imbecility?a1425
languisha1425
languoringa1438
unwieldness1437
faintnessa1440
impotency1440
infirmityc1440
debility1484
unlustiness1486
resolution1547
unwieldiness1575
languishment1576
infirmness1596
weakness1603
prostrationa1626
exolution1634
languidness1634
prosternation1650
faintingnessa1661
debilitude1669
flaccidity1676
atony1693
puniness1727
faintishness1733
adynamia1743
asthenia1802
adynamy1817
weakliness1826
tonelessness1873
atonicity1900
the world > health and disease > ill health > [noun] > weakness > weakened condition
weakness1603
1603 W. Shakespeare Hamlet ii. ii. 149 He..grew..into a sadnesse,..and weakenesse.
1617 F. Moryson Itinerary i. 236 I was all the day troubled with a weaknesse of bodie.
1749 D. Hartley Observ. Man i. i. §1. 51 The Numbness, and paralytic Weaknesses, which frequently succeed after Opiates.
1756 Mrs. Calderwood's Journey in Coltness Coll. (1842) 203 And ever since, I am given to violent passions and weaknesses in my head.
3.
a. An unreasonable or self-indulgent liking or inclination for (a person or thing).
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > love > tenderness > foolish affection, excessive love or fondness > [noun]
dotagea1450
doting1477
fondness1566
overfondness1656
weakness1712
engouement1847
the mind > emotion > love > tenderness > foolish affection, excessive love or fondness > [noun] > inordinate liking or weakness
fondness1607
weakness1712
1712 R. Steele Spectator No. 442. ⁋1 I must own my Weakness for Glory is such, that if I consulted that only, I might [etc.].
1746 Ld. Chesterfield Let. 4 Oct. (1932) (modernized text) III. 777 I have no womanish weakness for your person.
1852 W. M. Thackeray Henry Esmond III. xi. 283 He hath every great and generous quality, with perhaps a weakness for the sex which belongs to his family.
1869 A. Macdonald Love, Law & Theol. x. 172 I think she would like to have Porter, but he doesn't seem to see that she has a weakness for him.
1895 H. A. Kennedy in 19th Cent. Aug. 330 I own to a weakness for a play that, without any flourish of pretence, does very distinctly amuse me.
1913 Jrnl. Friends' Hist. Soc. Jan. 4 He had a weakness for getting on his feet several times in the course of one First~day morning.
b. quasi-concrete. Something for which one has an unreasonable liking.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > love > tenderness > foolish affection, excessive love or fondness > [noun] > inordinate liking or weakness > for something specific
weakness1822
foiblesse1834
1822 Ld. Byron Vision of Judgm. xxxix Nor wine nor lust Were of his weaknesses.
1841 C. Dickens Old Curiosity Shop i. iv. 95 You have been exciting yourself too much—talking perhaps, for it is your weakness.
1853 C. Dickens Bleak House xx. 197 It's the fashionable way; and fashion and whiskers have been my weaknesses, and I don't care who knows it.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1926; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
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