weakly
adjectiveadverbattested in dialogue
- //ˈwiːkli//
Frail, sickly or of a delicate constitution; weak.
adjective
- 1
Frail, sickly or of a delicate constitution; weak.
I lay in weakly case and confined to my bed for four months before I was able to rise and health returned to me.
I'd always been but weakly, / And my baby was just born; / A neighbour minded her by day, / I minded her till morn.
"Oh, a huge crab," Jacob murmured—and begins his journey on weakly legs on the sandy bottom.
Etymology
From Old English wāclīċe (“weakly”), equivalent to weak + -ly (adjectival suffix); compare Old English wāclīċ (“weak; ignoble; mean”), and Old Norse veikligr (“weakly; sick”); both ultimately from Proto-Germanic *waikalīkaz (“weakly; weak”).
adverb
- 1
With little strength or force.
The basitemporal platform is flat in posterior view because the mamillar tuberosities are very weakly developed.
Etymology
From Middle English weykly, equivalent to weak + -ly (adverbial suffix). Compare Old High German weihlīcho (“weakly”), Middle English wocliche, wokli, wacliche (both from Proto-Germanic *waikalīkō).
Forms
- comparative
- weaklier, more weakly
- superlative
- weakliest, most weakly
weakly · Frail, sickly or of a delicate constitution; weak.
weakness · The condition of being weak.wealth · Riches; a great amount of valuable assets or material…wealthy · Possessing financial wealth; rich.