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:
Literacy was a critical focus for Parton, who has said she set up the Imagination Library because of her own father's inability to read, which "probably kept him from seeing all his dreams come true."
From Barron's ● Aug. 27, 2026
He says the modern digital world often leaves us inflicted by decision paralysis, external - the inability to choose because there are so many options.
From BBC ● Aug. 8, 2026
I felt my inability to reach Sarah acutely.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 5, 2026
He blamed the false statements in his deposition testimony on the “passage of time, limited preparation, and his inability to recall the documents during questioning.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 4, 2026
And so she stood on the mountain, looking down at the emancipated city, and felt cheated by her inability to feel happy like everybody else.
From "Middlesex: A Novel" by Jeffrey Eugenides
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
But the rollout of aid has been slow, partly reflecting the Haitian government’s own inabilities to oversee and coordinate it, an echo of the problems following the 2010 quake.
From New York Times ● Aug. 16, 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
I feel myself honored in a very high degree in being thus called to so delicate a responsibility, and I can but deeply feel my inabilities.
From Memoirs of Mrs. Rebecca Steward by T. G. (Theophilus Gould) Steward
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.
