What does weaken mean?
Word: Weaken
Part of Speech: Verb
Meaning: Weaken means to become less strong, or to make someone or something less strong, healthy or powerful.
Synonyms: soften, loosen, tire, reduce
Antonyms: boost
How do you spell weaken?
Syllables: weak - en
Tricky part: The ending is -en, the verb-making ending of soften and brighten. Because that last vowel is said very lightly, students often write -an or -on instead.
Watch out for: weakan, weakon
Memory tip: Picture a tired hen trudging over the finish line of a race: weaken finishes with en, just like hen.
Weaken in a sentence
Example 1: Skipping meals can weaken even a strong wrestler.
Example 2: The team's defence weakened in the last ten minutes and they let in two goals.
Example 3: Too much salty water can weaken the roots of young plants.
Fun Fact
Weaken is built on a word that came into English from Old Norse veikr, a word used by the Viking settlers that meant pliant or easily bent.
Practise the CREST Way
Spell Probe
Find the misspelt word in the sentence and choose its meaning:
Weeks of heavy rain began to weeken the old mud wall of the cowshed, so the villagers propped it up with bamboo poles and sacks of sand.
a) a shed or building where cows are kept
b) to lose strength, or to make something lose it
c) a tall grass with hard hollow stems, used for poles
d) large bags made of strong, rough cloth
Show answer
b) to lose strength, or to make something lose it. Only weeken is misspelt, and the word it should be means to lose strength or take strength away.
Word Puzzle
Match the words with the correct options:
1. weaken 2. scatter 3. shrink a. strengthen b. expand c. gather
a) 1-a, 2-b, 3-c
b) 1-c, 2-a, 3-b
c) 1-a, 2-c, 3-b
d) 1-b, 2-c, 3-a
Show answer
c) 1-a, 2-c, 3-b. Weaken and strengthen pull in opposite directions, as do scatter and gather, and shrink and expand.
Jumble Tumble
Choose the correct sequence of the jumbled letters to form a meaningful word:
kenawe 123456
a) 254163
b) 524163
c) 524136
d) 542163
Show answer
b) 524163. Taken in the order 5, 2, 4, 1, 6, 3, the letters give a six-letter verb about losing strength.
Spellacadabra
Choose the misspelt word:
a) thicken
b) deepen
c) weakken
d) lighten
Show answer
c) weakken. Thicken spells its k sound with ck, but weaken needs just one k; the doubled k is the slip.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. What can weaken a bridge over many years?
a) a fresh coat of bright paint
b) rust slowly eating its iron beams
c) careful repairs every single year
d) new steel cables on each side
Show answer
b) rust slowly eating its iron beams
2. The cyclone weakened before it reached the coast. This means the cyclone ____.
a) lost some of its force
b) turned back out to sea
c) grew more dangerous
d) stopped moving altogether
Show answer
a) lost some of its force
