Achilles heel

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See also: Achilles' heel

English

Alternative forms

Etymology

From the Greek hero Achilles, whom according to legend his mother held by the heel when she dipped him in the River Styx, making him invulnerable everywhere except on his heel. He was later killed by an arrow wound to the heel.

Although the legend is ancient, the phrase only entered English in the 19th century. It is used as a metaphor for vulnerability, as in the earliest citation, an essay by Samuel Taylor Coleridge.

Pronunciation

  • (UK, US) IPA(key): /əˌkɪl.iːz ˈhiːl/
  • Audio (CA)(file)

Noun

Achilles heel (plural Achilles heels)

  1. A vulnerability in an otherwise strong situation.
    Synonyms: soft spot, vulnerability, weakness, weak spot, kryptonite; see also Thesaurus:weak spot
    A good all-round golfer, playing out of bunkers is my Achilles heel.
  2. (anatomy) The Achilles tendon, the tendo Achillis.

Related terms

Translations

Achilles tendon — see Achilles tendon

See also

References

  1. ^ Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1810 March) The friend; a literary, moral, and political weekly paper, number 26, page 431: “[…] Ireland, that vulnerable heel of the British Achilles!”

Further reading

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