débole

agg. weak, feeble, faint: udito debole, weak hearing; vista debole, weak sight; memoria debole, weak memory; ( med.) polso debole, feeble pulse; luce, rumore debole, faint light, noise; udimmo deboli suoni in lontananza, we heard faint sounds in the distance; essere debole di gambe, to be weak in the legs; essere troppo debole per camminare, to be too weak to walk; la sua difesa fu piuttosto debole, his defence was rather weak; Giovanni è debole in matematica, John is weak in maths; una costruzione debole, a weak construction; una protesta debole, a feeble protest // quale è il suo punto debole?, what’s his weak point? // il sesso debole, ( scherz.) the weaker sex // la carne è debole, the flesh is weak // ( gramm.) verbi deboli, weak verbs // ( fis.) interazione debole, weak interaction // ( econ.): mercato debole, weak market; domanda debole, slack demand; moneta debole, weak currency ¨ n.m.

1 weak person, weakling: è un debole e suo figlio ne approfitta, he’s a weak man and his son takes advantage of it

2 ( punto debole) weak point: la matematica è il suo debole, his weak point is maths

3 ( fig.) ( preferenza) weakness, weak point, foible, partiality, liking: ho un debole per i gelati, i romanzi gialli, I have a weakness for ( o I’m partial to) ice cream, detective stories; ho un debole per i mobili Chippendale, I am particularly fond of ( o I have a predilection for) Chippendale furniture; avere un debole per qlcu., to have a weakness ( o liking) for s.o.