Weakened

How to spell weakened

8 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce weakened

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does weakened mean?

1. verbMade or became less strong, less powerful, or less effective.

Weakened in a sentence

• Years of heavy rain weakened the old retaining wall.

• The long illness weakened her grip and left her tired.

Where does weakened come from?

Language of origin: Germanic

This word traces back to the Old English adjective 'wac', which meant pliant, soft, or lacking in strength; it shares its deeper roots with the Old Norse 'veikr', also meaning weak, and the sense of bending or yielding runs through the whole family. During the Middle English period the spelling and vowel shifted toward the modern 'weak'. The verb 'weaken' was formed within English by adding the productive suffix '-en', which turns an adjective into a verb meaning 'to make or become' something, exactly as in 'harden', 'soften', and 'lengthen'. Adding the regular past-tense ending '-ed' then produces 'weakened'. The spelling trap is the buried 'ea' digraph from the old vowel plus the quiet '-en-' before the ending, so the word is built as weak, then -en, then -ed.

How the word is built

• weak (root: not strong)
• -en (verb-forming suffix: to make)
• -ed (past tense/participle suffix)