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Synonym Chooser

How is the word weaken distinct from other similar verbs?

Some common synonyms of weaken are cripple, debilitate, disable, enfeeble, sap, and undermine. While all these words mean "to lose or cause to lose strength or vigor," weaken may imply loss of physical strength, health, soundness, or stability or of quality, intensity, or effective power.

a disease that weakens the body's defenses

When would cripple be a good substitute for weaken?

While in some cases nearly identical to weaken, cripple implies causing a serious loss of functioning power through damaging or removing an essential part or element.

crippled by arthritis

Where would debilitate be a reasonable alternative to weaken?

The words debilitate and weaken can be used in similar contexts, but debilitate suggests a less marked or more temporary impairment of strength or vitality.

the debilitating effects of surgery

When could disable be used to replace weaken?

While the synonyms disable and weaken are close in meaning, disable suggests bringing about impairment or limitation in a physical or mental ability.

disabled by an injury sustained at work

When might enfeeble be a better fit than weaken?

The synonyms enfeeble and weaken are sometimes interchangeable, but enfeeble implies a condition of marked weakness and helplessness.

enfeebled by starvation

How are the words undermine and sap related as synonyms of weaken?

Both undermine and sap suggest a weakening by something working surreptitiously and insidiously.

a poor diet undermines your health
drugs had sapped his ability to think

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of weaken Dark energy, a mysterious force that drives the accelerating expansion of the universe, appears to be weakening, according to new astronomical data. Sara Hashemi, Smithsonian Magazine, 21 Mar. 2025 The letter alleges the FSA website changes -- like moving the submit a complaint function -- weakens FSA's capacity to resolve complaints and puts borrowers at risk of loan scams. Arthur Jones Ii, ABC News, 20 Mar. 2025 Consumer advocates and the families of Tesla crash victims both called on Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy this week not to weaken oversight of the automotive industry. Ars Technica, 20 Mar. 2025 Consumers are already losing confidence and pulling back on spending, weakening a key engine of the economy. Axios, 11 Mar. 2025 See All Example Sentences for weaken
Recent Examples of Synonyms for weaken
Verb
  • Reduce heat to medium, and cook, uncovered, until vegetables soften slightly, 8 to 10 minutes.
    Kimberly Holland, Southern Living, 17 Mar. 2025
  • The data, released by the Census Bureau, will offer a look at how Americans spent their money during a month in which consumer confidence was softening amid tariff uncertainty.
    Kevin Stankiewicz,Matthew J. Belvedere, CNBC, 16 Mar. 2025
Verb
  • The possible explanatory layers overwhelm, and so there’s an honesty to how the series opts to focus on the devastation instead, fading out on the image of the Miller family torn apart and Eddie breaking down on Jamie’s bed.
    Nicholas Quah, Vulture, 19 Mar. 2025
  • Now, Trump's personal and fading legal troubles—combined with his brash policies concerning issues like immigration, executive power, and corporate regulations—are once again driving people to law school.
    Dan Perry, Newsweek, 18 Mar. 2025
Verb
  • Old-timers’ fears of diversity diluting the unique Vienna affect — the blend of instruments being a wonder of the orchestral world — proved unsurprisingly unfounded.
    Mark Swed, Los Angeles Times, 15 Mar. 2025
  • Expand only when revenue and opportunity justify it, allowing growth without diluting your brand or abandoning your core audience.
    Rolling Stone Culture Council, Rolling Stone, 13 Mar. 2025
Verb
  • One person was injured and transported to Shock Trauma, fire officials said.
    Michelle Deal-Zimmerman, Baltimore Sun, 28 Mar. 2025
  • Waymo doesn’t know whether the person riding the scooter was injured.
    ArsTechnica, ArsTechnica, 27 Mar. 2025
Verb
  • For example, sagging — most associated with poorly supportive bras — is not an ailment, but rather a natural aging phenomenon.
    Megan Feringa, New York Times, 27 Mar. 2025
  • For example, do your hips start to sag in Plank Pose?
    Amber Sayer, Outside Online, 21 Mar. 2025
Verb
  • The Tennessee Department of Health said on Friday that a resident in Middle Tennessee tested positive after being infected in early March and is currently recovering at home.
    Daniel R. Depetris, Newsweek, 25 Mar. 2025
  • When Trump left office, over 24 million Americans were infected with COVID-19, and 402,269 Americans died during his four-year term, according to Johns Hopkins University.
    Tom Zirpoli, Baltimore Sun, 25 Mar. 2025
Verb
  • Celine Dion has not yet fully re-emerged from her three-year battle with debilitating Stiff-Person Syndrome.
    Gil Kaufman, Billboard, 21 Mar. 2025
  • The five-time Grammy winner revealed in late 2022 that she was diagnosed with stiff-person syndrome, a rare neurological disorder that can cause debilitating muscle spasms.
    Marina Watts, People.com, 21 Mar. 2025
Verb
  • The country singer previously featured in December 2020, two months after he was dropped from an episode after failing to take Covid precautions on a night out.
    Peter White, Deadline, 19 Mar. 2025
  • Alas, the thick-headed goon that Vito sends to whack Frank in the lobby of his lux Manhattan apartment building (a swollen and unrecognizable Cosmo Jarvis as the aptly named Vincent Gigante) fails to follow through with a double-tap, and Frank survives with a scratch to the head.
    David Ehrlich, IndieWire, 19 Mar. 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Weaken.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/weaken. Accessed 31 Mar. 2025.

More from Merriam-Webster on weaken

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