The most useful collocations for Achilles' heel are the words and structures that speakers regularly use around it. For a fixed idiom, the whole phrase may be the main pattern. For a flexible expression, the preposition, object, or modifier may change.
Achilles' heel means the particular weakness that can undermine an otherwise strong person, plan, product, or system.
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Learn "Achilles' Heel" in depth →Core patterns
1. [plan / product / system]'s Achilles' heel
Use this frame when it matches the role of the expression in your sentence.
2. X's Achilles' heel is Y
Use this frame when it matches the role of the expression in your sentence.
3. Y is the Achilles' heel of X
Use this frame when it matches the role of the expression in your sentence.
4. identify / expose an Achilles' heel
Use this frame when it matches the role of the expression in your sentence.
5. prove to be an Achilles' heel
Use this frame when it matches the role of the expression in your sentence.
6. the main / potential Achilles' heel
Use this frame when it matches the role of the expression in your sentence.
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Start the "Achilles' Heel" learning path →The patterns in complete sentences
Example 1
“The growth plan's Achilles' heel is its reliance on one sales channel.”
Example 2
“Limited integration could prove to be the product's Achilles' heel.”
Example 3
“The otherwise efficient process has one Achilles' heel: its manual approval handoff.”
Notice that the sentence does not stop at the expression. It adds the object, reason, timing, or consequence that the listener needs.
Collocation does not erase meaning
A grammatically natural phrase can still be the wrong choice. These nearby expressions have different meanings:
| Expression | Use it for |
|---|---|
| weakness | any disadvantage or limitation, including a minor one. |
| bottleneck | a step or resource that limits flow or throughput. |
| single point of failure | a component whose failure can stop a system. |
| fatal flaw | a defect presented as making failure or rejection likely, often stronger. |
| blind spot | an issue someone has not recognized or considered. |
Do not swap these terms only to avoid repetition. First decide what claim the sentence needs to make. Then choose the matching pattern.
Tone can change the best pattern
Natural in internal strategic and competitive discussion when the weakness is consequential. In formal risk, audit, legal, or incident records, name the exact dependency or vulnerability directly.
When the expression is informal, critical, or culturally specific, a direct description may travel better across teams. You can still learn the idiom for recognition while choosing plainer language in formal writing.
Pattern practice
Choose one core pattern and complete it with a real workplace noun. Then add one sentence of evidence. Practice a second version with a nearby expression and notice how the meaning changes.
Useful checks:
- Keep fixed words and prepositions in the right order.
- Do not add an article when the pattern does not take one.
- Make the person, object, or decision clear.
- Match the phrase's intensity to the evidence.
- Prefer plain wording when the audience may not know the reference.
Learn the pattern as a complete frame, then adapt it to the situation. That is more reliable than memorizing the expression by itself.
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