Powerless vs. Weak — What's the Difference?

Lacking strength or power; helpless and totally ineffectual.

Lacking the power to perform physically demanding tasks; having little physical strength or energy

Lacking legal or other authority.

Liable to break or give way under pressure; easily damaged

Lacking sufficient power or strength.

Lacking intensity or brightness

Lacking legal authority.

Denoting a class of verbs in Germanic languages that form the past tense and past participle by addition of a suffix (in English, typically -ed).

Destitute of power, force, or energy; weak; impotent; not able to produce any effect.

Relating to or denoting the weakest of the known kinds of force between particles, which acts only at distances less than about 10⁻¹⁵ cm, is very much weaker than the electromagnetic and the strong interactions, and conserves neither strangeness, parity, nor isospin.

Lacking power

Lacking physical strength, energy, or vigor; feeble.

Likely to fail under pressure, stress, or strain; lacking resistance

Lacking firmness of character or strength of will

Lacking intensity or strength; faint

Lacking the proper strength or amount of ingredients

Having low prices or few transactions

Lacking the ability to function normally or fully

Unable to digest food easily; readily nauseated

Lacking or resulting from a lack of intelligence

Lacking aptitude or skill

Lacking persuasiveness; unconvincing

Lacking authority or the power to govern

Of, relating to, or being those verbs in Germanic languages that form a past tense and past participle by means of a dental suffix, as start, started; have, had; bring, brought.

Of, relating to, or being the inflection of nouns or adjectives in Germanic languages with a declensional suffix that historically contained an n.

Unstressed or unaccented in pronunciation or poetic meter. Used of a word or syllable.

Designating a verse ending in which the metrical stress falls on a word or syllable that is unstressed in normal speech, such as a preposition.

Lacking in force (usually strength) or ability.

Unable to sustain a great weight, pressure, or strain.

Unable to withstand temptation, urgency, persuasion, etc.; easily impressed, moved, or overcome; accessible; vulnerable.

Dilute, lacking in taste or potency.

(grammar) Displaying a particular kind of inflection, including:

Regular in inflection, lacking vowel changes and having a past tense with -d- or -t-.

Showing less distinct grammatical endings.

Definite in meaning, often used with a definite article or similar word.

(chemistry) That does not ionize completely into anions and cations in a solution.

(physics) One of the four fundamental forces associated with nuclear decay.

(slang) Bad or uncool.

Having a narrow range of logical consequences; narrowly applicable. (Often contrasted with a strong statement which implies it.)

Resulting from, or indicating, lack of judgment, discernment, or firmness; unwise; hence, foolish.

Not having power to convince; not supported by force of reason or truth; unsustained.

Lacking in vigour or expression.

Not prevalent or effective, or not felt to be prevalent; not potent; feeble.

(stock exchange) Tending towards lower prices.

(photography) Lacking contrast.

Wanting physical strength.

Deficient in strength of body; feeble; infirm; sickly; debilitated; enfeebled; exhausted.

Not possessing or manifesting intellectual, logical, moral, or political strength, vigor, etc.

Not able to sustain a great weight, pressure, or strain; as, a weak timber; a weak rope.

Feeble of mind; wanting discernment; lacking vigor; spiritless; as, a weak king or magistrate.

Pertaining to, or designating, a verb which forms its preterit (imperfect) and past participle by adding to the present the suffix -ed, -d, or the variant form -t; as in the verbs abash, abashed; abate, abated; deny, denied; feel, felt. See Strong, 19 (a).

Not firmly united or adhesive; easily broken or separated into pieces; not compact; as, a weak ship.

Resulting from, or indicating, lack of judgment, discernment, or firmness; unwise; hence, foolish.

Tending toward a lower price or lower prices; as, wheat is weak; a weak market.

Not stiff; pliant; frail; soft; as, the weak stalk of a plant.

Not having full confidence or conviction; not decided or confirmed; vacillating; wavering.

Lacking in good cards; deficient as to number or strength; as, a hand weak in trumps.

Not able to resist external force or onset; easily subdued or overcome; as, a weak barrier; as, a weak fortress.

Not able to withstand temptation, urgency, persuasion, etc.; easily impressed, moved, or overcome; accessible; vulnerable; as, weak resolutions; weak virtue.

Lacking contrast; as, a weak negative.

Lacking force of utterance or sound; not sonorous; low; small; feeble; faint.

Wanting in power to influence or bind; as, weak ties; a weak sense of honor of duty.

Not thoroughly or abundantly impregnated with the usual or required ingredients, or with stimulating and nourishing substances; of less than the usual strength; as, weak tea, broth, or liquor; a weak decoction or solution; a weak dose of medicine.

Not having power to convince; not supported by force of reason or truth; unsustained; as, a weak argument or case.

Lacking ability for an appropriate function or office; as, weak eyes; a weak stomach; a weak magistrate; a weak regiment, or army.

Wanting in point or vigor of expression; as, a weak sentence; a weak style.

Not prevalent or effective, or not felt to be prevalent; not potent; feeble.

Lacking in elements of political strength; not wielding or having authority or energy; deficient in the resources that are essential to a ruler or nation; as, a weak monarch; a weak government or state.

Tending towards lower prices; as, a weak market.

To make or become weak; to weaken.

Having little physical or spiritual strength;

Overly diluted; thin and insipid;

Lacking power

Used of vowels or syllables; pronounced with little or no stress;

Having the attributes of man as opposed to e.g. divine beings;

Lacking force; feeble;

Lacking physical strength or vitality;

Used of verbs having standard (or regular) inflection

Lacking physical strength or vigor

Characterized by excessive softness or self-indulgence;