impotent

[ im-puh-tuhnt ]

/ ˈɪm pə tənt /

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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.

OTHER WORDS FOR impotent

1, 2 powerless, helpless.

3 ineffectual, ineffective, feeble, weak.

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Question 1 of 7

Which sentence is correct?

His boss, whom he admires, is waiting to meet with him about the big project.

His boss, who he admires, is waiting to meet with him about the big project.

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Origin of impotent

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

OTHER WORDS FROM impotent

im·po·tent·ly, adverb

How to use impotent in a sentence

All while the international community observed, if not passively, impotently.
The Radicals Who Slaughtered a Synagogue|Creede Newton|November 19, 2014|DAILY BEAST
“Poker should not be played in a house with women,” Mitch explains impotently.
5 Great Books for Poker Fiends|James McManus|November 10, 2009|DAILY BEAST
He saw mounted officers and parading soldiers, and groups of firemen standing impotently by their hose and engines.
Ancestors|Gertrude Atherton
Neither did he like attending the agonies of child-birth, or standing impotently at the bed of the dying.
Fidelity|Susan Glaspell

When the sun tinged all the hilltops golden yellow, he turned and shook his fist impotently at the camp far beneath him.
The Happy Family|Bertha Muzzy Bower
Sluggishly, reluctantly, impotently, the spruce logs followed one another round and round the circuit of the great stone pot.
The Backwoodsmen|Charles G. D. Roberts
Yet the chagrin of having at once so violently and so impotently belittled himself added one sting more to his fate.
Bonaventure|George Washington Cable

British Dictionary definitions for impotent

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 forms of impotent

impotence, 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

impotent

OTHER WORDS FOR impotent

Origin of impotent

OTHER WORDS FROM impotent

Words related to impotent

How to use impotent in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for impotent

Derived forms of impotent