WEE-kuhnd
/ˈwikənd/
weakened is pronounced WEE-kuhnd (/ˈwikənd/). Weakened is the past tense or past participle form of weaken, meaning to have been reduced in strength, vigor, or effectiveness. It can also describe something made less effective or less intense. The term often appears in contexts like health, defense, power, or dominance, indicating a state of diminished capability or influence compared with a prior condition.
Weakened is the past tense or past participle form of weaken, meaning to have been reduced in strength, vigor, or effectiveness. It can also describe something made less effective or less intense. The term often appears in contexts like health, defense, power, or dominance, indicating a state of diminished capability or influence compared with a prior condition.
"The storm weakened the levee just enough to cause minor flooding."
"Vaccination efforts weakened the outbreak’s spread in the community."
"Her argument weakened the opposition's stance during the debate."
Pronounce as WEAK-uhnd with primary stress on WEAK. IPA: US/UK/AU /ˈwiː.kənd/. The first syllable uses a long /iː/ as in 'we' and 'week'; the second syllable centers on /k/ before a reduced vowel /ə/ and ends with /nd/; in careful speech the suffix is /-ənd/, while in casual speech the /ə/ can be a schwa and the /d/ may voice softly. Gentle linking occurs if followed by a consonant in rapid speech. Listen for the lightly vocalized second syllable. Audio reference: you can verify on Cambridge or Forvo entries for /ˈwiː.kənd/.
Common errors include treating the second syllable as a full syllable with emphasis (wea-KEN-ed) and mispronouncing the /k/ as /g/ in some dialects; another frequent slip is pronouncing the second vowel as a full /e/ instead of a reduced /ə/. Correction: keep stress on WEAK, use a short, neutral /ə/ in the second syllable, and ensure the final /nd/ is clearly pronounced without excessive nasalization. Practice with minimal pairs like weak- and week- to stabilize the /iː/ vs /i/ and then glide into /kənd/.
In US/UK/AU, the first syllable carries primary stress with a long /iː/ in /wiː/. Differences lie mainly in rhoticity and vowel quality: US is rhotic, so the /r/ is not involved here but influences the following vowels if connected; UK can show slight fronting and a slightly shorter /iː/ depending on speaker; AU tends toward a centralized or broader Australian /ɪ/ in fast speech but generally keeps /iː/ for WEAK. The ending /ənd/ may be realized as /ənd/ or /ən/ depending on tempo; overall, the main variation is vowel quality and pace rather than a drastically different phoneme set.
The difficulty lies in the transition from a tense, high-front vowel /iː/ to a reduced syllable with /ə/ and a nasal/stop cluster /nd/. The /k/ is a hard stop preceding the nasal, and in rapid speech, the /ə/ can vanish, making it sound like /ˈwiː.knd/ or /ˈwiː.kənd/ with light /ə/. Additionally, the final /nd/ can carry a subtle nasalization or be pronounced as a quick /n-d/ sequence; maintaining the clean /k/ before the nasal is essential to avoid mispronunciations like /ˈwiː.kɛn/ or /ˈwiː.kən/.
One unique aspect is the reduced second syllable: /ənd/ often merges to a schwa with a light /d/ in careful speech, but in fast speech it becomes a more syllabic, almost syllable-less /ən/ or /n/. You should tune your mouth to release the /k/ cleanly before the alveolar nasal; do not nasalize the /k/. Practice with phrases where the word is linked to a following consonant (weakened defenses) to ensure natural rhythm and avoid a choppy stop after the /k/.
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- US: Rhotic context affects surrounding vowels; keep /wiː/ clear, then move to /kənd/ with a gentle transition. /ɹ/ is not present here, but in connected speech you may hear a slight vowel color shift before a following r-influenced word. - UK: More clipped and precise in rapid speech; keep /iː/ long but avoid overemphasis on /k/. - AU: Vowel quality may be more centralized; maintain /iː/ but be ready for a quicker /ənd/ reduction. Use IPA: /ˈwiː.kənd/ consistently across accents.
Weakened comes from weaken, itself from Old English wecan ‘to be weak, be lacking in strength, be unable.’ The form was influenced by the Old Norse motsvaras of ‘to weaken,’ and the Middle English weakeneden as a past participle-like adjective. The root weac- traces to Proto-Germanic wakaną ‘to be weak, to languish,’ which shares its origin with words like weak, feverish, and week. The suffix -ed marks past tense or past participle in English, yielding the modern form weakened. The semantic trajectory moved from “to make weak” to “made weak,” commonly used in medical, physical, and figurative senses. First known written attestations appear in Middle English texts, with usage increasing in the Early Modern period as we became more precise about states of capacity, strength, and influence. Over time, weakened has become a standard descriptor in both literal and metaphorical contexts, often preceding nouns (weakened immune system) or acting as a state adjective (a weakened position).
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💡 These words have similar meanings to "weakened" and can often be used interchangeably.
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Words that rhyme with "weakened"
-ned sounds
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