weak-kneed

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English

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Alternative forms

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Adjective

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weak-kneed (comparative more weak-kneed, superlative most weak-kneed)

  1. (figuratively) Lacking will power or strength of character; timid.
    • 1903, Jack London, chapter 5, in The People of the Abyss:
      It is incontrovertible that the children grow up into rotten adults, without virility or stamina, a weak-kneed, narrow-chested, listless breed, that crumples up and goes down in the brute struggle for life.
  2. (literally) Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see weak,‎ kneed.

Translations

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