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
Jeff Fletcher, Oc Register, 26 Mar. 2026
There were sketches that ran too long, or ended weakly, but were generally redeemed by a young(ish), confident 11-member cast that made the most of them.
—Television Critic, Los Angeles Times, 23 Mar. 2026
The system is set up to detect what are called light dark matter particles, which interact so weakly with regular matter that other methods of detecting them have failed.
—Adam Harrington, CBS News, 17 Mar. 2026
With his team down by a run in the bottom of the ninth, Araúz pinch hit for Allen Córdoba and grounded out weakly to second base.
—Melissa Lockard, New York Times, 11 Mar. 2026
Instead, the commissioner weakly would not even commit to an investigation of Tisch at the Super Bowl.
—Pat Leonard, New York Daily News, 24 Feb. 2026
In 1946, Congress responded weakly to mounting overseas food needs.
—Peter Simons, The Conversation, 16 Jan. 2026
In 1946, Congress responded weakly to mounting overseas food needs.
—Peter Simons, Fortune, 14 Jan. 2026
They’d been poorly reviewed, sold weakly, and were generally held in low esteem except by a select few.
—Vince Passaro, Harpers Magazine, 30 Dec. 2025
Adverb
Silseth threw him one pitch, and Alvarez grounded weakly to second.
—Jeff Fletcher, Oc Register, 26 Mar. 2026
There were sketches that ran too long, or ended weakly, but were generally redeemed by a young(ish), confident 11-member cast that made the most of them.
—Television Critic, Los Angeles Times, 23 Mar. 2026
The system is set up to detect what are called light dark matter particles, which interact so weakly with regular matter that other methods of detecting them have failed.
—Adam Harrington, CBS News, 17 Mar. 2026
With his team down by a run in the bottom of the ninth, Araúz pinch hit for Allen Córdoba and grounded out weakly to second base.
—Melissa Lockard, New York Times, 11 Mar. 2026
Instead, the commissioner weakly would not even commit to an investigation of Tisch at the Super Bowl.
—Pat Leonard, New York Daily News, 24 Feb. 2026
In 1946, Congress responded weakly to mounting overseas food needs.
—Peter Simons, The Conversation, 16 Jan. 2026
In 1946, Congress responded weakly to mounting overseas food needs.
—Peter Simons, Fortune, 14 Jan. 2026
They’d been poorly reviewed, sold weakly, and were generally held in low esteem except by a select few.
—Vince Passaro, Harpers Magazine, 30 Dec. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for weakly
Adjective
-
Vested with the responsibility of finding havens for some of the county’s most fragile, lonely people, often without relatives or those able to care for them, Hernandez has been accused of treating them like commodities.—
Carol Marbin Miller,
Miami Herald,
2 Apr. 2026
-
The joint move from Kennedy and Zeldin comes as activists from Kennedy’s MAHA movement have forged fragile political ties with the EPA but expressed frustration with lack of action on their priorities, including pesticide regulation.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
2 Apr. 2026
Adverb
-
Heathcliff’s racial ambiguity — so central to the novel’s violence and otherness — is feebly erased.—
Ana Gutierrez,
Austin American Statesman,
11 Feb. 2026
-
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.—
Miriam Pensack,
The Dial,
30 Sep. 2025
Adjective
-
The slide appears to have involved a thick slab of soft snow breaking loose at a weak layer in the snowpack, the report said.—
Ethan Baron,
Mercury News,
4 Apr. 2026
-
Endowed not only with a privileged birthright but—unlike the actual princes over in England, who had weak chins and went bald young—the physical stature to match?—
Jeffrey Eugenides,
New Yorker,
4 Apr. 2026
Adverb
-
The cast’s sole survivor is Jessica Hecht, who pours miraculous warmth and complexity into her faintly insulting role as Colleen, the head teller, a morally upright spinster goosed by her flirtation with Sonny and the spotlight.—
Emily Nussbaum,
New Yorker,
2 Apr. 2026
-
Thickened with a little potato and flavored with leeks, shallot, white wine, and the faintly anise-y herb tarragon, this sleeper hit of a soup is subtle, springy, and unexpectedly special.—
Ginger Crichton,
Midwest Living,
1 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
At the hospital in Dollow, mothers sat shoulder to shoulder on narrow beds holding frail children, some too weak to cry while others let out soft whimpers.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
27 Mar. 2026
-
For all its public association with queerness, ballet remains largely committed to a frail, wispy femininity and a princely but muscular and explosive masculinity—with the stringent, often punishing body-shape standards to match.—
Chloe Angyal,
Time,
9 Mar. 2026
Adverb
-
Instead, the Lakers superstar pulled up straight over the top of Bryant’s outstretched arm, dropping a fadeaway jumper softly through the net.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
1 Apr. 2026
-
Her signature copper red hair, styled by Halley Brisker, was worn softly tousled down her back.—
Anna Cafolla,
Vogue,
1 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
Working with his regular cinematographer Oleg Mutu, Loznitsa gives this prison — and authoritarianism itself — a sickly luster without ever denying its wretched stench.—
Tim Grierson,
Los Angeles Times,
26 Mar. 2026
-
In a large, rather attractive room, five men sat around a table, all in military uniforms, except for one sickly old man.—
Christine Smallwood,
Harpers Magazine,
24 Mar. 2026
Adverb
-
Make sure the tires reconnect with the road - During the skid, wait until the tires reconnect with the road and then gently straighten the wheels to regain control.—
KANSAS CITY STAR WEATHER BOT,
Kansas City Star,
2 Apr. 2026
-
Standing knee-deep in the lo‘i, covered in mud, gently pressing roots into the earth, anchored me in a new way.—
Wassan Al-Khudhairi,
Artforum,
2 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Weakly.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/weakly. Accessed 6 Apr. 2026.
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