What does weakened mean?
Weakened describes something that has lost strength, power, effectiveness, or support, and it can also serve as the past tense or past participle of the verb weaken. The word is highly versatile: it can describe a person whose health or energy has declined, an object made less effective, an institution operating with reduced resources, or an argument or commitment that has become less convincing. Its connotation is usually negative, although the degree of severity varies with context. A weakened argument may simply be less persuasive, while a weakened immune system suggests a serious impairment of the body's defenses. In legal, political, and business writing, weakened can describe institutions, policies, resolve, or authority. As a verb form, it makes the process explicit: something weakened the evidence, the position, or the agreement. The word is therefore useful not only for describing diminished physical capacity but also for the many ways in which confidence, influence, and effectiveness can erode.
Having lost strength, power, effectiveness, support, or intensity.
"The weakened defenses allowed the attackers to enter the city."
Commonly used before nouns such as system, resolve, defense, position, or version, and also used predicatively.
Past tense and past participle of weaken: to make or become less strong, powerful, effective, or supported.
"The long illness weakened his ability to walk."
This form can function as a finite past-tense verb or as a past participle in phrases such as 'has weakened.'
A single added syllable turns a strong word into a diagnosis: weakened.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does weakened come from?
Weakened is formed from the adjective weak by adding the suffix -en and using the resulting verb weaken in its past and participial forms. Weak descends from Old English wac, meaning feeble or lacking strength, and is cognate with related words in other Germanic languages, including German schwach and Dutch zwak. The derived forms weakness, weakly, and weakened belong to the same English word family, though only weakness and weakly are listed separately here as non-inflected root-family forms.
Related word forms
How weakened is actually used
The form is neutral in register and is common in formal, professional, journalistic, and everyday contexts. As an adjective, it usually describes a condition or result; as a verb form, it indicates completed action or participation in that action.