weakest link

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

No pronunciation record was provided for this word.

The figurative sense comes by metaphor from the literal sense: the notion that a chain is only as strong as its weakest link. (See historical details there.)

13 source translations are retained for this English entry.

• Arabic: الحَلَقَةُ الأَضْعَف (al-ḥalaqatu l-ʔaḍʕaf) — the part of a system that is most likely to fail or cause problems
• Dutch: zwakste schakel — the part of a system that is most likely to fail or cause problems
• Finnish: heikoin lenkki — the part of a system that is most likely to fail or cause problems
• French: maillon faible — the part of a system that is most likely to fail or cause problems
• German: schwächstes Glied — the part of a system that is most likely to fail or cause problems
• Hungarian: leggyengébb láncszem — the part of a system that is most likely to fail or cause problems
• Italian: anello debole — the part of a system that is most likely to fail or cause problems
• Polish: najsłabsze ogniwo — the part of a system that is most likely to fail or cause problems
• Russian: сла́бое звено́ (sláboje zvenó) — the part of a system that is most likely to fail or cause problems
• Spanish: eslabón más débil — the part of a system that is most likely to fail or cause problems
• Spanish: eslabón perdido — the part of a system that is most likely to fail or cause problems
• Swedish: svagaste länken — the part of a system that is most likely to fail or cause problems
• Swedish: akilleshäl — the part of a system that is most likely to fail or cause problems