# weakly

> English word · Adjective · IPA /ˈwiːkli/ · frequency rank #23,432

## Definitions
1. Frail, sickly or of a delicate constitution; weak.

## Etymology
From Old English wāclīċe (“weakly”), equivalent to weak + -ly (adjectival suffix); compare Old English wāclīċ (“weak; ignoble; mean”), and Old Norse veikligr (“weakly; sick”); both ultimately from Proto-Germanic *waikalīkaz (“weakly; weak”).

## Easily confused with
- **weary** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/weakly-vs-weary)
- **weekly** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/weakly-vs-weekly)
- **weak** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/weak-vs-weakly)
- **Wally** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wally-vs-weakly)
- **weaker** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/weaker-vs-weakly)
- **weaken** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/weaken-vs-weakly)

## Common misspellings (9)
`ewakly`, `waekly`, `weakkly`, `weaklly`, `weaklyy`, `weakyl`, `wealky`, `wekaly`, `wweakly`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/weakly