as in fragile
chronically or repeatedly suffering from poor health
a weakly baby who required repeated hospitalizations
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in feebly
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of weakly
Vince Passaro, Harpers Magazine, 30 Dec. 2025
Many systems are either highly mobile but weakly connected, or strongly connected but slow to reconfigure and prone to losing mobility.
—Kaif Shaikh, Interesting Engineering, 16 Dec. 2025
In the sixth, Chisholm walked to the plate with Aaron Judge on second base and Giancarlo Stanton on first and two outs, but Chisholm grounded out weakly to second base.
—The Athletic Mlb Staff, New York Times, 9 Oct. 2025
The sun blasts us from the left and warm air puffs weakly from the vents.
—R29 Team, Refinery29, 19 Sep. 2025
After striking out weakly in his at-bat in the fourth, the Twins removed Jeffers from the game.
—David Brown, Twin Cities, 6 Sep. 2025
These differences matter — research shows the benefits are strongest where enforcement is clear and coverage is broad, while partial or weakly enforced laws yield far less impact.
—Nirit Cohen, Forbes.com, 3 Sep. 2025
In microtransfer printing, laser dies [red rectangles, left] are weakly held in place on their own wafer.
—Roel Baets, IEEE Spectrum, 8 Apr. 2023
Adverb
They’d been poorly reviewed, sold weakly, and were generally held in low esteem except by a select few.
—Recent Examples of Synonyms for weakly
Adjective
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The synthetic insulation can be beaten up more than fragile down, and the 15-denier fabric is water-resistant and durable for extended wear.—
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The latter provides the opportunity for a harrowing sequence in which the family is forced to cross a giant ravine on a treacherously fragile rope ladder.—
Adverb
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One man aboard the boat knew how to navigate the mangroves and sandbars of the keys, and with the late summer sun beating down on the rafters, the boat pushed out feebly into the open ocean.—
Adjective
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New orders contracted for a fourth month and export bookings remained weak, based on the ISM data.—
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Getting too little of either can lead to weak, brittle bones, and too much can also cause problems (like kidney stones or nausea).—
Adverb
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The fireball expands rapidly, rippling through the air as emergency sirens wail faintly in the distance.—
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Remember to be patient as auroras may arrive in quiet bursts, glowing faintly before becoming vibrant waves of color.—
Adjective
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With elderly patients, particularly those who are cognitively impaired and frail, that can be challenging.—
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However, the bacteria can cause serious, potentially fatal infections in young children, frail or elderly people, and others with weakened immune systems.—
Adverb
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Dewey-eyed and softly singing, audience members called out for the same.—
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Crawford, on the other hand, touted Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show bombshell hair; her honey-brown highlights softly waved and parted over the right side of her head.—
Adjective
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Her parents could have believed their sickly child had died and buried her according to local customs.—
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Only Abi, the young nanny, can make the sickly girl smile.—
Adverb
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Their study suggests that slow, orderly streams of cool gas already inside the galaxy—or delivered by interactions with nearby galaxies—may be quietly feeding central black holes, allowing those black holes to gently shut down star formation without blowing the galaxy apart.—
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Brake gently as needed - Brake normally if the vehicle has anti-lock brakes and pump brakes gently if in an older vehicle.—
Cite this Entry
“Weakly.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/weakly. Accessed 12 Jan. 2026.
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