French Conversation · Level 43
75 words
French word
faiblir
Pronunciation
IPA/febliʁ/
Meaning
- verbweaken
Example
Le vent commence à faiblir.
The wind is beginning to weaken.
More examples
L'intérêt pour le projet n'a pas faibli malgré les difficultés.
Interest in the project did not weaken despite the difficulties.
Core concept
A gust, voice, or person's strength slowly fading rather than stopping at once.
Common phrases
avoir tendance à faiblir
tend to weaken
faiblir au fil du temps
weaken over time
Similar words
s'affaiblir: Become progressively less strong or effective.
diminuer: Become smaller in amount or lower in degree.
baisser: Drop to a lower level, amount, height, or volume.
s'épuiser: Lose strength through exhaustion or prolonged effort.
Definition in French
Perdre en vigueur ou en puissance de façon progressive; verbe intransitif employé pour des personnes, des phénomènes ou des sons qui s'affaiblissent.
Word origin
French formed faiblir from faible with the -ir ending, while faible comes through Old French feble from Latin flebilis.
Usage tips
- Faiblir is intransitive: the weakening thing is the subject, while something that weakens another thing takes affaiblir.
Other meanings
- declineverb
Opposites
- se renforcergrow strongerverb
- s'intensifierintensifyverb
Related words
- faiblissementweakeningnoun
- affaiblirweakenverb