weakling
/ˈwiːkˈlɪŋɡ/
"weakling" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“weakling” is uncommon English (frequency #57,815 among 1,759 “W” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #57,815
- frequency rank, English
- 1,759
- “W” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A person of weak or even sickly physical constitution.
Corpus desk
Index EN-weakling · weakling · English
weakling · rank #57,815 · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-RARE #57,815
- LEN-LONG 8 letters
- VOW-3 3 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-MID 1,759
- PHOTO-FINISH Waterville
Nearest frequency peer: Waterville (-2 rank slots)
Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern
Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.
Long-tail ranks near “weakling”
Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter
- wacker
wacker
42,191 corpus weight
- Waleed
Waleed
42,189 corpus weight
- Waterville
Waterville
42,188 corpus weight
- weakling
weakling
42,186 corpus weight
- weightlessn…
weightlessness
42,184 corpus weight
- Welland
Welland
42,182 corpus weight
What this shows Long-tail view: where “weakling” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | weakling |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈwiːkˈlɪŋɡ/ |
| Letters | 8 |
| Frequency rank | #57,815 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “weakling” in English
Rare enough to double-check
weakling is uncommon English at frequency #57,815 among 1,759 “W” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈwiːkˈlɪŋɡ/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.
weakling doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. No confusable counterpart is on file for this word, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.
Etymologically, the entry records: From weak + -ling. The correct English form is weakling, spelled W-E-A-K-L-I-N-G.
Definition
- 1A person of weak or even sickly physical constitution.
- 2A person of weak character, lacking in courage and/or moral strength.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how weakling appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
“Mon Dieu!” he soliloquized, “but they are all alike. Cheating, murdering, lying, fighting, and all for things that the beasts of the jungle would not deign to possess—money to purchase the effeminate pleasures of weaklings. And yet withal bound down by silly customs that make them slaves to their unhappy lot while firm in the belief that they be the lord…
c.1551, Hugh Latimer, a sermon in Lincolnshire We may not be weaklings because we have a strong enemy.
Etymology
From weak + -ling.
Antonyms
This word in other languages
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "weakling", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 8 letters (nearest by frequency rank).