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Showing results for Achilles' heel. Search instead for achillessehnenreflex.
Definitions

Achilles heel

NOUN
vulnerable point
Synonyms
WEAK
chink in the armor damaging weakness defect failing flaw foible frailty heel of Achilles susceptibility tender spot vulnerability weak link weak spot weakness
Achilles' heel
NOUN
vulnerability
Synonyms
WEAK
chink in the armor deficiency frailty soft underbelly susceptibility weakness

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Europe’s exposure to spot prices for liquefied natural gas is its Achilles’ heel.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 11, 2026

President Donald Trump will want to avoid at all costs a prolonged surge in oil prices, which would become his political Achilles' heel.

From Barron's • Mar. 10, 2026

As he notes, "this same virtue had become their experimental Achilles' heel: how do you "read" or "detect" a property that doesn't reside at any specific point?"

From Science Daily • Feb. 16, 2026

Once you’ve done that, you have to do it day after day to get a feel for your Achilles’ heel.

From MarketWatch • Nov. 17, 2025

Armed with 2,400 years' worth of extra mathematics, it is not hard for us to go back and find Zeno’s Achilles’ heel.

From "Zero: The Biography of a Dangerous Idea" by Charles Seife