Which to use
“weaker” and “weakest” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #8,503
- “weaker” frequency rank
- #13,271
- “weakest” frequency rank
- 21774
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | weaker | weakest |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | comparative form of weak: more weak | superlative form of weak: most weak |
Where the eye mixes weaker and weakest
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between weaker and weakest
A purely visual mix-up. weaker (/ˈwiːkə/) and weakest (/ˈwiːkɪst/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 21774, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
weaker is recorded at frequency rank #8,503, classified as anadj, pronounced /ˈwiːkə/. weakest is at rank #13,271, tagged as anadj, pronounced /ˈwiːkɪst/.
Glosses for this pair are partially populated in our dataset, but the full side-by-side definitions above should still guide you to the right choice.
With a confusion score of 21774, this pair ranks #421,447 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of weaker vs weakest
Shared letters: aekw. Private to "weaker": r. Private to "weakest": st.
"weaker" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC · "weakest" · 7 letters · shape CVVCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "weaker" and "weakest" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary English text, does "weaker" or "weakest" show up more?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "weaker" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "weakest" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #421,447 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "weaker" and "weakest" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "weaker vs wrecker". Nearby pair
- Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes
Confusion rank #421,447 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.