Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

weaken

/ˈwikən/

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.49 in modern English

Syllables: weak-en
IPA: /ˈwikən/

13

Scrabble Score

6

Letters

2

Syllables

5

Unique Chars

Meaning

verb

To make weaker or less strong.

Transitive verb

verb

To become weaker or less strong.

Intransitive verb

Example Sentences

"weaken a bond"
"weaken a joint"
"Over the years my enthusiasm for the job has weakened."
"My friends, we are confronted with a serious situation. But it is typical of the security problems of the world today. Powerful and aggressive forces are constantly probing, now here, now there, to see whether the free world is weakened. In the face of this, there are no easy choices available. It is misleading for anyone to imply that there are. However, the present situation, though serious, is by no means desperate or hopeless."

Etymology

From weak + -en.

Regional Pronunciation

American English: /ˈwikən/

Usage

Inflected Forms

weakens (present, singular) weakening (participle, present) weakened (participle, past) weakened (past)

Derived Forms

enweaken reweaken weakener

Phrases

weaken up

Synonyms

emasculate attenuate blunt break down dilute enfeeble hebetate sag

Rhymes With

beacon rican deacon mozambican pekin mohican rieken puerto rican nuyorican newyorican sleeken neorican

Questions

How do you pronounce weaken?: The recorded pronunciation is /ˈwikən/.
What does weaken mean?: To make weaker or less strong.
Where does weaken come from?: From weak + -en.

How to pronounce weaken

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “weaken”.
Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/ˈwikən/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “weaken”.
Repeat and practice — Say “weaken” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.