weakness

[jiang]

Dear teachers,


The _________ in David's character has hindered him from advancement in his career.
a. weakness b. shortcoming c. defect
The key is 'c' but I think the other two are correct. Is that right?

Looking forward to hearing from you.
Thank you in advance.

Jiang

[Soup]

Hi jiang

The _________ in David's character has hindered him from advancement in his career.

a. weakness
b. shortcoming
c. defect

Here defect means flaw; i.e., a character flaw, which is neither a weakness/fault nor a shortcoming/failure.

[jiang]

Hi Soup,

Thank you very much for your explanation. According to your explanation Defect is different from 'weakness and shortcoming'. Could you please kindly explain why the other two are not correct? Is it collocation or something like that?

Looking forward to hearing from you.
Thank you in advance.

Jiang

Hi jiang

The _________ in David's character has hindered him from advancement in his career.

a. weakness
b. shortcoming
c. defect

Here defect means flaw; i.e., a character flaw, which is neither a weakness/fault nor a shortcoming/failure.

[Soup]

Could you please kindly explain why the other two are not correct?

Synonyms:
Defect, blemish, flaw refer to faults that detract from perfection. Defect is the general word for any kind of shortcoming or imperfection, whether literal or figurative: a defect in eyesight, in a plan.

defect definition | Dictionary.com