week
/wik/
weak is pronounced week (/wik/). Weak refers to a lack of strength, power, or effectiveness. It can describe physical frailty, weak evidence, or a weak emotional state. In language, it often conveys insufficiency or hesitation, and contrasts with strong, robust, or decisive. The term is concise, everyday and widely used across contexts.
Weak refers to a lack of strength, power, or effectiveness. It can describe physical frailty, weak evidence, or a weak emotional state. In language, it often conveys insufficiency or hesitation, and contrasts with strong, robust, or decisive. The term is concise, everyday and widely used across contexts.
"Her grip was weak after the injury, making it hard to lift the box."
"The argument rests on weak evidence and is unlikely to persuade anyone."
"She gave a weak smile that barely reached her eyes."
Weak is pronounced with a long, clipped /iː/ vowel? Not exactly. In IPA for US/UK/AU, it’s /wiːk/. The initial consonant is /w/ (lip rounding) followed by a tense long /iː/ vowel, then a final voiceless /k/ stop. The tongue stays high and forward for /iː/, with a crisp closure at the lips for /k/. The entire word is monosyllabic and carries primary stress on itself by default. In careful speech, you’ll produce a precise /wiːk/ with a short, sharp /k/ release. When you listen, you’ll hear a high-front vowel that’s held slightly longer than a typical short vowel, followed by the abrupt /k/ closure. Audio references: Cambridge Learner’s Dictionary or Forvo entry for /wiːk/ provide native examples. IPA: US /wiːk/, UK /wiːk/, AU /wiːk/.
Common mistakes include pronouncing it as /weɪk/ using a diphthong, or adding an extra sound such as /wɪk/ or /wiʔ/ due to glottalization. The correct form has a tense, long /iː/ vowel: /wiːk/. Another error is releasing the final /k/ too late or not fully closing the mouth, resulting in /wiː/ or a trailing vowel. Practice with precise mouth closure: round lips for /w/, high front tense /iː/, and a clean, instantaneous /k/ closure. Keep the /iː/ duration slightly longer than a typical short vowel but not so long you sound hesitant. Listen to native models on Pronounce or Forvo and mimic the crisp stop.
In US, UK, and AU, /wiːk/ is broadly similar: a long, tense /iː/ with a clear /k/. Differences are subtle: US tends to have a slightly tenser /iː/ and a crisp, unreleased or lightly released /k/ depending on region; UK often has a slightly shorter /iː/ in some dialects and a more forward tongue position; Australian English may have a slightly lower, broader vowel quality but still around /iː/. Rhoticity isn’t a factor here because /wiːk/ is non-rhotic concerning /r/—the ending /k/ remains non-rhotic. Overall, the core is the tense high-front /iː/ and final /k/, with minor vowel length and articulation variations.
The challenge lies in the combination of a tense high-front vowel /iː/ immediately followed by a voiceless stop /k/. Learners often substitute a shorter vowel (like /ɪ/ or /ɪə/) or add an extra vowel after /k/ due to final-frication. Another difficulty is ensuring the final /k/ is not devoiced or dropped in rapid speech, which can blur the word into /wi/ or /wiː/ with an incomplete closure. Practice precise tongue height: high front position for /iː/, soft pause, and immediate, clean /k/ release.Audio prompts from Pronounce or Forvo help you match the stop.
A practical tip: think of a small, quick smile when you produce the /iː/ sound; keep your lips relaxed but slightly rounded at the /w/ onset, then snap to a tight /k/ release. The sequence should feel like a quick glide from an initial /w/ into a steady high-front vowel, finishing with a clean, brisk /k/. Don’t insert extra breath or vowel after the /k/. Visualize the mouth: lips rounded to start, tongue high and forward for /iː/, then back to the /k/ closure.
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The adjective weak comes from Old English what? wēc, related to wacian ‘to be weak’ and to Proto-Germanic *wakas. Early senses emphasized physical frailty and lack of strength. Over time, metaphorical uses extended to describe weak arguments, weak signals, or weak flavors. By Middle English, weak applied to both bodily weakness and insufficient strength in non-physical domains, such as “weak drink” or “weak evidence.” The term shares roots with Germanic languages’ wacian family, and it has cognates in Dutch zwak and German schwach, both denoting lack of strength. The evolution tracks a shift from tangible weakness to abstract insufficiency, which persists in modern idioms like ‘weak excuse’ or ‘weak sauce.’ The historical register shows that “weak” has long been used in evaluative judgments, not just physical description, making it a versatile term across rhetoric, medicine, and everyday speech. First known uses in Old English texts appear around the early medieval period, with related forms in runic inscriptions and Germanic legal poetry that describe physical or moral weakness. Overall, weak developed from a straightforward physical descriptor into a broad evaluative quality applicable to evidence, performance, health, and emotion across centuries.
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💡 These words have similar meanings to "weak" and can often be used interchangeably.
🔄 These words have opposite meanings to "weak" and show contrast in usage.
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Words that rhyme with "weak"
-eek sounds
-eak sounds
Practice with these rhyming pairs to improve your pronunciation consistency:
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