inability
Americannoun
-
inabilities
plural
noun
Synonym Usage
See disability.
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of inability
First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English inabilite, from Medieval Latin inhabilitās; equivalent to in- 3 + ability
Explanation
An inability refers to lacking the capacity to do something. A deaf person has an inability to hear. If you know that abilities are things people can do — like the ability of a basketball player to dunk the ball — then you might already have figured out that an inability is something a person cannot do. Most people have an inability to dunk a basketball. People who eat too much have an inability to resist food. Often, this word refers to having mental limitations: an inability to think or figure something out. We all have different abilities and inabilities.
Vocabulary lists containing inability
Dealing with Dragons
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"Ellen West" by Frank Bidart
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
I felt my inability to reach Sarah acutely.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 5, 2026
Carmen Schober, the profile’s author, ignored the way members of Schmidt’s online forum, Skinni Société, commiserated about their hair loss and inability to stand without getting dizzy.
From Salon ● Aug. 5, 2026
Wright said "greed, incompetence and an inability to keep up with his own failings" had all played a part in his crimes.
From BBC ● Aug. 1, 2026
Pretty much, you are overcommunicating to make up for her inability to communicate at all.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 31, 2026
My inability to bluff had cost us smaller battles than this one.
From "The Rock and the River" by Kekla Magoon
But the frustration is that Australia, at times, have not outplayed England - instead, they have been gifted opportunities to win by England's inabilities to do the basics, like catching the ball.
From BBC ● Feb. 2, 2025
In April 2020, the Department of Transportation received over 17,000 complaints about inabilities to get refunds for flights, a more than 17,000-percent increase from just 98 in the same month in 2019.
From New York Times ● Jul. 6, 2021
Hewitt’s own inabilities aside, the actress can at least play the part.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 18, 2018
But these inabilities do not exceed the corporeal: physical growth is not a metaphor for emotional growth.
From The Guardian ● Jan. 31, 2018
The modern isms must be viewed with consideration, for there are many impostors concealing their inabilities by flocking to these less understood fields.
From Visual Illusions Their Causes, Characteristics and Applications by Luckiesh, Matthew
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
