weak-kneed

weak-kneed

English

Alternative forms

• weak in the knees

Adjective

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

1. (figuratively) Lacking will power or strength of character; timid.
   • 1903, Jack London, The People of the Abyss, ch. 5:

     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 with a figurative or idiomatic meaning: see weak,‎ kneed.

Translations

figuratively: having weak knees

literally: having weak knees

Bikol Central: lupog

Maori: turingongengonge, turipū