Weaknesses

How to spell weaknesses

10 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce weaknesses

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does weaknesses mean?

1. nounThe qualities, faults, or vulnerable points that make a person or thing less capable, strong, or effective.

Weaknesses in a sentence

• The interview asked her to name two weaknesses alongside her strengths.

• The report exposed several weaknesses in the company's security systems.

Where does weaknesses come from?

Language of origin: Old Norse

The base word 'weak' came into English from the Old Norse 'veikr', meaning 'pliant' or 'lacking strength', which was related to a verb meaning 'to bend or give way'; it gradually replaced the native Old English 'wac' of similar sense. To this Germanic root English added '-ness', an ancient suffix that turns an adjective into a noun naming a state or quality, so 'weakness' literally means 'the condition of being weak'. The plural 'weaknesses' simply adds '-es' because the word already ends in a hissing 's' sound, and English inserts that extra syllable to keep the ending pronounceable. The spelling trap lives in the middle and end: the silent 'a' in 'wea-' and the stacked sibilants of '-nesses', where writers often drop or double the wrong 's'. The word has carried its modern meaning of a faltering point or a fondness one cannot resist since the 1500s.

How the word is built

• weak (lacking strength)
• -ness (noun-forming suffix: state or quality)
• -es (plural)