weak, adj. — Green’s Dictionary of Slang

weak adj.

1. lacking in funds, poor.

1959

E. De Roo Young Wolves 53: ‘Too expensive,’ Roy told him flatly. ‘I’m weak.’ ‘They’re on me.’ ‘No. I’d have to owe you.’ ‘So owe me, if that’s the way you want it, but I’m strong tonight. Got plenty of vitamins.’ He waved a couple of bills.

2. (also weak-ass) poor, disappointing, ineffectual.

1959		H. Salisbury Shook-Up Generation (1961) 172: WEAK Bad, poor, disappointing, unconvincing.
1972		D. Claerbaut Black Jargon in White America 86: weak adj. 1. inadequate; inferior. 2. inappropriate; not timely.
1989		P. Munro Sl. U. 202: weak no good, not up to standard, lame.
1996		(con. 1946) G. Pelecanos Big Blowdown (1999) 91: They sound like one weak tit.
1997		Simon & Burns Corner (1998) 248: I kicked your weak ass up and down the street.
2007		UGK ‘Swisha And Dosha’ 🎵 Weak niggaz wanna plead their case (case), just to raise up out my face (face).
2012		G. Pelecanos (con. 1972) What It Was 83: He wasn’t excited about it. Music for females and pretty boys. It was weak.
2023		F. Bill Back to the Dirt 86: [H]e swiveled from Leonard’s weak-ass throat grab, swiped an elbow across Leonard’s temple. Drew blood.

3. stupid.

1977		Fidrych & Clark No Big Deal 192: I mean, this is how weak the bartender was at the place. He goes, I tell you what, I’ll give you a free beer if you give me an autograph.
1979		Lette & Carey Puberty Blues 51: No bull? What a weak act.
1986		R. Beckett Dinkum Aussie Dict. 56: Weak: Short for ‘piss weak’ or ‘weak as cold piss on a plate’. The person being referred to is a doddering idiot.
1992		R.G. Barrett White Shoes 107: I guess that was a bit of a weak act [i.e. informing on a friend's adulterous affair].
1999		T. Parker South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut [film script] dr doctor: Great! Son, I have some bad news. We...accidentally replaced your heart with a baked potato. You have about three seconds to live. [...] kenny: What? [exploding] cartman: Ah! Fuckin’ weak, dude!
2003		Mad mag. Feb. 28: This is so weak. Weak? This is the NFL!

4. (US campus) frustrated.

1991

Eble Campus Sl. Mar. 10: weak – frustrated.

In compounds

weak-ass (adj.) [-ass sfx]

a derog. term for second-rate, unimpressive, powerless.

c.1951		N. Algren ‘Watch Out for Daddy’ in Entrapment (2009) 147: Some kind of old country barn with just one weakass bulb burning high up.
1969		C. Brown Mr Jive-Ass Nigger 124: I mean, it took getting pregnant by this weak-ass white man, before I realized I was black.
1998		(con. 1986) G. Pelecanos Sweet Forever 43: Man had a conk. Clay couldn’t believe it, and a weak-ass moustache.
2003		Simon & Burns ‘Hot Shots’ Wire ser. 2 ep. 3 [TV script] Sounds like some weak-ass shit to me.
2007		W. Ellis Crooked Little Vein 102: You East Coast types [...] You’re like little weakass colonies on the edge of Real America.

weak mug (n.)

(N.Z. prison) a general insult for an ineffectual person.

1978		G. Newbold ‘Social Organization of Prisons’ in dissertation U. Auckland 339: The Staunchie and the man with heart have their antitheses in the nomenclature of the weak mug, the flea; the germ; the wonk; the thing; and numerous other expressly derogatory epithets .
1982		G. Newbold Big Huey 197: ‘When, after I came in from work, I found out what had happened I was very annoyed and went around referring to Kapua as a weak mug and a double-yolker.
2001		D. Looser Boobslang [U. Canterbury D.Phil. thesis] 201/1: weak mug n. 1 a contemptible person, an ingrate 2 a person who is an easy mark, easily conned.

weak shit (n.)

1. (drugs) second-rate, relatively ineffective drugs [shit n. (5c)].

1970

G. Scott-Heron Vulture (1996) 80: He [...] started runnin’ off at the mouth about blowin’ yawl’s mind wit’ weak shit.

2. second-rate, weak, inadequate words or actions [shit n. (3e)].

1973

D. Goines Street Players 12: Aw, man, why you come up with that weak shit?

SE in slang uses

In derivatives

weakie (n.) (also weaky) [sense 2 + sfx -ie]

(Aus.) an unreliable, untrustworthy person.

1955		D. Niland Shiralee 53: Don’t lump me in with the weakies.
1965		W. Dick Bunch of Ratbags 34: He was not going to be a weakie.
1967		‘Whisper All Aussie Dict.’ in Kings Cross Whisper (Sydney) xliii 11/2: weaky: A person who gives in easily, usually a young female who does not fight too vigorously for her honour.

In compounds

weakhead (n.)

(US) a (thuggish) fool.

1955

B. Appel Tough Guy [ebook] [F]ifteen guys under him, strongarms and weakheads mostly, good at smashing a rib or breaking an arm.

weakheart (n.)

(UK/W.I.) a derog. term for a police officer.

1977		D. Powis Signs of Crime 207: Weakheart West Indian slang for police. Meant to be offensive.
1989		J. Morton Lowspeak.

weak-jointed (adj.)

(US) euph. for drunk.

1851		Kalida Venture (OH) 11 Apr. 2/4: Drunk [...] weak-jointed.
a.1856		Burlington Sentinel in Hall (1856) 461: We give a list of a few of the various words and phrases which have been in use, at one time or another, to signify some stage of inebriation: [...] weak-jointed.

weaksauce (n.)

(US teen/campus) something or someone second-rate, tedious, specifically an unfunny joke.

2002		Teen Lingo: The Source for Youth Ministry 🌐 weaksauce n. Joke that didn’t quite make you laugh ‘That was weaksauce.’.
2014		Eble UNC-CH Campus Sl. Spring 2014 16: WEAK SAUCE — something mediocre, boring: X: ‘I think I’ll just stay in tonight.’ Y: ‘Weak sauce, man!’.

weak tap (n.) [tap v.² (3b)]

one who has a low income.

1952

W.R. Burnett Little Men, Big World 238: I’m pretty small. Just a little book. Not much take. I’m what is known as a weak tap.

weak-wristed (adj.)

see limp-wristed adj.

In phrases

weak as gin’s piss (adj.) (also weak as a pygmy maiden’s piss, ...cat breath, ...nun’s piss, ...puppy’s piss, ....weasel’s piss) [gin n.¹ (1) + piss n. (1)]

(orig. Aus.) extremely weak.

1945		Baker Aus. Lang. 88: Of additional similes peculiarly our own, the following are among the best: [...] tea as weak as gin’s p—s, very weak tea (maids-water is used similarly).
1951		(con. 1940s) S. Longstreet Pedlocks (1971) 380: Peter sat with Mike Kozloff, drinking a warm, bitter ale, ‘weak as cat breath.’.
1971		F.J. Hardy Outcasts of Foolgarah (1975) 15: Those showers have got a stream as weak as a pygmy maiden’s piss.
1977		A. Bleasdale No More Sitting on the Old School Bench (1979) 17: The state of you, arty-farty, weak as weasel’s piss.
1988		McGill Dict. of Kiwi Sl. 121/1: weak as nun’s piss very weak, often a reference to beer.
1999		G. Seal Lingo 133: The problems associated with over-proof and downright dangerous concoctions are also numerous in colloquial speech: [...] blow-me-skull-off; the offensive gin’s piss.
2001		(con. 1975–6) E. Little Steel Toes 16: I’m weaker than puppy’s piss, no stamina and no power.
2003		McGill Reed Dict. of N.Z. Sl. 227: weak as cat’s/gnat’s/nun’s/weasel’s piss Feeble and unthreatening.
2024		X 25 Jan. 🌐 Nicola Sturgeon urged to apologise after leaked WhatsApp messages describing Matt Hancock as ‘Weaker than a nuns piss,’ Liz Truss as ‘About as much use as a marzipan dildo,’ and referring to Suella Braverman as ‘Shitler’.

weak as piss (adj.) [piss n. (1)]

extremely weak (cf. piss-weak under piss- pfx).

1963–74		B. Humphries Barry McKenzie [comic strip] in Complete Barry McKenzie (1988) 81: All them liquid laughs on the boat have left me feeling weak as piss.
1968		J. Alard He who Shoots Last 4: He’s as weak as piss. He ain’t ever pulled a job.
1993		M.B. ‘Chopper’ Read How to Shoot Friends 34: ‘Tough Tony’ Franzone wasn’t tough at all. In fact, he was weak as piss.
1999		Indep. Sport 15 Nov. 7: ‘Weak as piss,’ he calls those without the stomach for the continuing struggle.
2001		Guardian 15 Dec. 51/4: ‘You’re weak as piss’.

weak in the arm (n.)

see under arm n.