Word.ws English Dictionary

Achilles heel

UK/əˌkɪl.iːz ˈhiːl/

Achilles heel noun: a vulnerability in an otherwise strong situation.

Noun

Achilles heel (plural Achilles heels)

  1. A vulnerability in an otherwise strong situation.
    • A good all-round golfer, playing out of bunkers is my Achilles heel.
    • In nearly all respects he is an admirable agent of the USSR, but his gross physical habits and predilections are an Achilles heel of which we have been able to take advantage from time to time and one of his mistresses is a Eurasian (No 1860) controlled by Station F, who has recently been able to...1953, Ian Fleming, “Dossier for M”, in Casino Royale, London: Pan Books, published 1955, page 14
  2. The Achilles tendon, the tendo Achillis.

Achilles heel meaning in Hindi, Urdu, Tagalog and Arabic

Achilles heel in Hindi

vulnerability in an otherwise strong situation
अकिलीज़ की एड़ akilīz kī eṛ

Achilles heel in Urdu

دُکھتی رَگ, کمزور پہلو

Achilles heel in Tagalog

vulnerability in an otherwise strong situation
sakong ni Akiles, sakong ni Aquiles

Achilles heel in Arabic

vulnerability in an otherwise strong situation
عَقِب أَخِيل ʕaqib ʔaḵīl, كَعْب أَخِيل kaʕb ʔaḵīl, نُقْطَةُ ضَعْف nuqṭatu ḍaʕf

Synonyms of Achilles heel

Forms of Achilles heel

pluralAchilles heels
alternative formAchilles' heel

Origin of Achilles heel

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.

Questions about Achilles heel

What does Achilles heel mean?
Achilles heel means a vulnerability in an otherwise strong situation.
What is Achilles heel in Hindi?
Achilles heel in Hindi is अकिलीज़ की एड़ (akilīz kī eṛ). See Achilles heel meaning in Hindi.
What part of speech is Achilles heel?
Achilles heel is a noun.
How do you pronounce Achilles heel?
Achilles heel is pronounced /əˌkɪl.iːz ˈhiːl/ (UK).
What is the plural of Achilles heel?
The plural of Achilles heel is Achilles heels.

Words near Achilles heel in the dictionary

  1. achilleates
  2. achilleic acid
  3. Achilleid
  4. achilleine
  5. Achilles
  6. Achilles heel
  7. Achilles heels
  8. Achilles jerk
  9. Achilles jerks
  10. Achilles number
  11. Achilles numbers

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: Achilles heel (page history and authors); achilles heel (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-PerfectSoundWhatever-Achilles heel.wav.

Cite this entry: “Achilles heel.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/achilles_heel. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.