Let $p(cdot): mathbb R^nto(0,infty)$ be a variable exponent function satisfying the globally log-Holder continuous condition. In this article, the authors first introduce the variable weak Hardy space on $mathbb R^n$, $W!H^{p(cdot)}(mathbb R^n)$, via
the radial grand maximal function, and then establish its radial or non-tangential maximal function characterizations. Moreover, the authors also obtain various equivalent characterizations of $W!H^{p(cdot)}(mathbb R^n)$, respectively, by means of atoms, molecules, the Lusin area function, the Littlewood-Paley $g$-function or $g_{lambda}^ast$-function. As an application, the authors establish the boundedness of convolutional $delta$-type and non-convolutional $gamma$-order Calderon-Zygmund operators from $H^{p(cdot)}(mathbb R^n)$ to $W!H^{p(cdot)}(mathbb R^n)$ including the critical case $p_-={n}/{(n+delta)}$, where $p_-:=mathopmathrm{ess,inf}_{xin rn}p(x).$
