weakling
adjEtymology From weak + -ling.
1
weak, either physically, morally or mentally
weakling
noun/ˈwiːkˈlɪŋɡ/ · /ˈwiːklɪŋɡ/
Etymology From weak + -ling.
1
A person of weak or even sickly physical constitution.
- “Mon Dieu!” he soliloquized, “but they are all alike. Cheating, murdering, lying, fighting, and all for things that the beasts of the jungle would not deign to possess—money to purchase the effeminate pleasures of weaklings. And yet withal bound down by silly customs that make them slaves to their unhappy lot while firm in the belief that they be the lords of creation enjoying the only real pleasures of existence.1913, Edgar Rice Burroughs, The Return of Tarzan, New York: Ballantine Books, published 1963, page 17:
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.
- Donald Trump has lashed out against his own supporters, calling them gullible “weaklings” for questioning the transparency of a secretive government inquiry into the late high-profile socialite and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.2025 July 17, Oliver Holmes, “Trump calls Epstein conspiracy a ‘hoax’ and turns on Maga ‘weaklings’”, in The Guardian, archived from the original on 14 Aug 2025:
- Antonyms
- strongling