impotent

[ im-puh-tuhnt ]

/ ˈɪm pə tənt /

adjective

not potent; lacking power or ability.

utterly unable (to do something).

without force or effectiveness.

lacking bodily strength or physically helpless.

(of a male) unable to attain or sustain a penile erection.

(especially of a male) sterile.

Obsolete. without restraint.

noun

an impotent person: therapy for sexual impotents.

Nearby words

impostor syndrome, impostume, imposture, imposure, impotence, impotent, impound, impoundment, impoverish, impoverished, impoverishment

Origin of impotent

1350–1400; Middle English < Latin impotent- (stem of impotēns) without power over oneself or others. See im-², potent¹

SYNONYMS FOR impotent

1, 2 powerless, helpless.

3 ineffectual, ineffective, feeble, weak.

Related formsim·po·tent·ly, adverb

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for impotently

All while the international community observed, if not passively, impotently.
The Radicals Who Slaughtered a Synagogue|Creede Newton|November 19, 2014|DAILY BEAST
And yet the silly old woman felt a lack, as she impotently watched Rachel leave the kitchen.
The Price of Love|Arnold Bennett
Clutching wildly and impotently at his aggressor, Hughes felt his strength failing.
The Ruined Cities of Zululand|Hugh Mulleneux Walmsley
This was resented, but impotently, by the various sovereigns.
Invention|Bradley A. Fiske

Those who had flourished under the old system retired to their holes, impotently cursing the new regime.
Grey Town|Gerald Baldwin
It was, to be sure, a flower-strewn one, but often she impotently rebelled against its very orderliness.
Bucky O'Connor|William MacLeod Raine

British Dictionary definitions for impotently

impotent

/ (ˈɪmpətənt) /

adjective

(when postpositive, often takes an infinitive) lacking sufficient strength; powerless

(esp of males) unable to perform sexual intercourseSee erectile impotence

obsolete lacking self-control; unrestrained

Derived Formsimpotence, impotency or impotentness, nounimpotently, adverb

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for impotently

impotent

adj.

late 14c., "physically weak, enfeebled, crippled," from Old French impotent "powerless, weak, incapable," from Latin imponentem (nominative impotens) "lacking control, powerless," from assimilated form of in- "not, opposite of" (see in- (1)) + ponentem (nominative potens) "potent" (see potent).

Meaning "having no power to accomplish anything" is from mid-15c.; that of "completely lacking in sexual power" (of males) is from mid-15c. Middle English also had a native term for this: Cunt-beaten (mid-15c.). The figurative sense in Latin was "without self-control, headstrong, violent." Related: Impotently.

Medicine definitions for impotently

impotent

[ ĭm′pə-tənt ]

adj.

Incapable of sexual intercourse, often because of an inability to achieve or sustain an erection.

Sterile. Used of males.