weakling

English

Etymology

From weak +‎ -ling.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈwiːkˈlɪŋɡ/, /ˈwiːklɪŋɡ/

  • Audio (Southern England)

    (file)

Noun

weakling (plural weaklings)

1. A person of weak or even sickly physical constitution
2. (figuratively) A person of weak character, lacking in courage and/or moral strength.
   • c.1551, Hugh Latimer, a sermon in Lincolnshire

     We may not be weaklings because we have a strong enemy.

Synonyms

• (person of weak constitution): twerk, twerp
• (person of weak character): pushover, sissy, weenie; see also Thesaurus:milksop

Antonyms

• strongling

Translations

person of weak or even sickly physical constitution

• Alemannic German: Abziehbildle n
• Bulgarian: слабак (bg) m (slabak)
• Catalan: nyicris
• Czech: slaboch m
• Danish: svækling (da) c
• Dutch: zwakkeling (nl) m
• Esperanto: malfortulo
• Finnish: rääpäle (fi), surkimus (fi)
• French: gringalet (fr) m
• German: Schwächling (de) m
• Kurdish:

  Northern Kurdish: belingaz (ku), perîşan (ku), jar (ku), hejar (ku), şepirze (ku)

• Macedonian: сла́бак m (slábak)
• Maori: tīmohea, rōrā
• Polish: słabeusz (pl) m
• Portuguese: fracote m or f
• Russian: слаба́к (ru) m (slabák)
• Sanskrit: दुर्बल (sa) m (durbala)
• Spanish: enclenque (es) m or f
• Swedish: ynkling c, vekling (sv) c, sillmjölke c
• Welsh: swbach m

person of weak character

• Bulgarian: малодушен човек (malodušen čovek)
• Catalan: nyicris
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 懦夫 (zh) (nuòfū)

• Finnish: ketale, kutale, surkimus (fi)
• French: poule mouillée (fr) f
• German: Schwächling (de) m, Feigling (de) m, Weichei (de) n
• Italian: femminuccia (it), coniglio (it), fifone (it), codardo (it), vigliacco (it), pollo (it), merlo (it), mollusco (it), pappamolle, smidollato (it), rammollito (it)
• Japanese: 弱虫 (ja) (よわむし, yowamushi)
• Kurdish:

  Northern Kurdish: belingaz (ku), perîşan (ku), jar (ku), hejar (ku), reben (ku)

• Luxembourgish: Feigling m
• Macedonian: сла́бак m (slábak), ли́гуш m (líguš)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: svekling m

• Polish: słabeusz (pl) m, mięczak (pl) m
• Portuguese: fracote m or f
• Russian: слаба́к (ru) m (slabák), хлю́пик (ru) m (xljúpik), тря́пка (ru) f (trjápka)
• Spanish: pusilánime (es) m
• Swedish: ynkling c
• Welsh: llipryn m

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Czech: slaboch m
• Danish: svækling (da) c
• Dutch: zwakkeling (nl) m
• French: gringalet (fr) m

Adjective

weakling

1. weak, either physically, morally or mentally

Translations

weak, either physically, morally or mentally

• Bulgarian: слаб (bg) (slab), хилав (bg) (hilav)
• Hebrew: חֲלַשְׁלוּשׁ (he) m (ẖalashlúsh)
• Kurdish:

  Northern Kurdish: belingaz (ku), perîşan (ku), jar (ku), hejar (ku)

• Maori: rōrā, tīmohea
• Portuguese: fracote
• Russian: сла́бый (ru) (slábyj), хи́лый (ru) (xílyj)
• Spanish: enclenque (es), fuñingue (es) (Chile, Cuba), pusilánime (es)
• Swedish: vek (sv)

References

• Webster's Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary, Springfield, Massachusetts, G.&C. Merriam Co., 1967