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:
The inability to play with the same freedom and attacking intent that is often on show in big matches on the ATP Tour had become a perennial problem.
From BBC ● Nov. 2, 2026
Gamble recalled a performer who writhed on the floor while sob-singing Lou Bega’s “Mambo No. 5,” which could be sad considering the protagonist’s inability to maintain a steady relationship.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 26, 2026
One trigger for the disclosure was an inability to agree on a replacement for operations chief Jonathan Hitchon, who retired in 2023 and served as a kind of diplomat between Overdeck and Siegel.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 19, 2026
His film is a self-reflexive study of the inability to act as people expect — of masking and deception.
From Salon ● Oct. 17, 2026
Livingston also was perplexed about his inability to coax the protons to more than seventy-five accelerating steps, a mysterious constraint on the machine’s effectiveness.
From "Big Science" by Michael Hiltzik
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
It is not you that are to blame for this sad gap in our correspondence; it is I, or rather it is my misfortunes, and miserable inabilities, broken resolutions, etc., etc.
From The Correspondence of Thomas Carlyle and Ralph Waldo Emerson, 1834-1872, Vol II. by Thomas Carlyle
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
