Definitions

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adjective easily swayed
  • adjective irresolute, indecisive

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Originated 1880–85, literally weak of will.

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Examples

  • The KKK focused most closely on dance halls and automobiles, both of which, the Imperial Wizard of the Klan warned, subjected weak-willed women to “seductive allurement.”

    A Renegade History of the United States Thaddeus Russell 2010

  • What also made the novel compelling was that Wharton provided at least some explanation for why Undine turned out the way she did her weak-willed parents were much too doting and women had limited options in those days.

    Dave Astor: When a Novel's Main Character Is Unlikable Dave Astor 2011

  • He left office, the historian Bruce Schulman has written, as a "potent symbol for the futility of government and naiveté of reformist zeal," well-intentioned, but weak-willed, "as much a relic of the despised, disparaged Seventies as yellow smiley faces, disco records, and leisure suits."

    Glenn C. Altschuler: Jimmy Carter's Last Campaign Glenn C. Altschuler 2010

  • He left office, the historian Bruce Schulman has written, as a "potent symbol for the futility of government and naiveté of reformist zeal," well-intentioned, but weak-willed, "as much a relic of the despised, disparaged Seventies as yellow smiley faces, disco records, and leisure suits."

    Glenn C. Altschuler: Jimmy Carter's Last Campaign Glenn C. Altschuler 2010

  • The collective impression of such future Europeans will probably be that of numerous, talkative, weak-willed, and very handy workmen who REQUIRE a master, a commander, as they require their daily bread; while, therefore, the democratising of Europe will tend to the production of a type prepared for SLAVERY in the most subtle sense of the term.

    J. L. Morin: Modern Day Slavery 101: Losing Control All Over the World J. L. Morin 2011

  • These tactics were most effective when employed on the weak-willed, non-Christian members of the cultural elite:

    The Panic Virus Seth Mnookin 2011

  • These tactics were most effective when employed on the weak-willed, non-Christian members of the cultural elite:

    The Panic Virus Seth Mnookin 2011

  • What also made the novel compelling was that Wharton provided at least some explanation for why Undine turned out the way she did her weak-willed parents were much too doting and women had limited options in those days.

    Dave Astor: When a Novel's Main Character Is Unlikable Dave Astor 2011

  • Music made me lose my taste for the robber baron self and for some other identities that I'd tried on, too: to be an archeologist like the great Schliemann who'd dug out Troy with his bare hands, cheered on by his Greek wife; to be a microbiologist like Paul Ehrlich, who'd cured syphilis that had killed or deformed so many weak-willed great minds.

    Moondog Marcus Speh 2011

  • Perhaps if you are a weak-willed writer who listens to teachers are writer's workshops that tell you to rewrite and rewrite until all your adjectives, as well as your personal style, are gone, by all means, obey rule 3; better to send out your rough and uncut diamond, provided it sounds like you, than to cut and polish and re-cut and re-polish until there is no stone left.

    MIND MELD: Shrewd Writing Advice From Some of Science Fiction's & Fantasy's Best Writers 2009

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