Weichei

German

Etymology

From weich (“soft”) +‎ Ei (“egg”). The word “egg” may be interpreted in the literal sense comparing hartgesotten and English hard-boiled, soft-boiled. It may also be interpreted in the sense “testicle” comparing French couille molle.

Pronunciation

• Audio

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Noun

Weichei n (strong, genitive Weicheies or Weicheis, plural Weicheier)

1. (derogatory, slang) wimp, wuss, softy

   Synonyms: Schlappschwanz, Memme, Weichling

Declension

Declension of Weichei [neuter, strong]

	singular			plural
	indef.	def.	noun	def.	noun
nominative	ein	das	Weichei	die	Weicheier
genitive	eines	des	Weicheies, Weicheis	der	Weicheier
dative	einem	dem	Weichei, Weicheie1	den	Weicheiern
accusative	ein	das	Weichei	die	Weicheier

¹Now uncommon, see notes.

Further reading

• “Weichei” in Duden online
• “Weichei” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache