impotent

[im-puh-tuhnt]

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.

Origin of impotent

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

Related formsim·po·tent·ly, adverb

Synonyms for impotent

1, 2. powerless, helpless. 3. ineffectual, ineffective, feeble, weak.

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

Examples from the Web for impotently

Contemporary Examples of impotently

All while the international community observed, if not passively, impotently.
The Radicals Who Slaughtered a Synagogue
Creede Newton
November 19, 2014

Historical Examples of impotently

The disaster rankled in Edward's mind, ever craving vengeance, impotently.
King Robert the Bruce
A. F. Murison
Blake raged at that, impotently, pathetically, like an old lion with its teeth drawn.
The Shadow
Arthur Stringer
In that query was the riddle which impotently Verplank was trying to solve.
The Monster
Edgar Saltus
This was resented, but impotently, by the various sovereigns.
Invention
Bradley A. Fiske
They both sprang to their feet, and glared at him impotently.
A Mysterious Disappearance
Gordon Holmes

British Dictionary definitions for impotently

impotent

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.

impotently in Medicine

impotent

[ĭm′pə-tənt]

adj.

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

Sterile. Used of males.