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 deal with a free-kick, the failure to pick up the goalscorer in the first instance and then multiple calamities in the concession of the second goal.
From BBC ● Oct. 23, 2026
It can cause a range of cognitive and physical symptoms, including vision changes, pain, fatigue, and trouble or inability to walk.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 23, 2026
The elephant in the room will be the inability by both countries to seal their long-awaited trade deal, experts say.
From Barron's ● Oct. 18, 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
You'd think an ultra-attractive mother like mine would understand why my appearance was hampered by my Frida Kahlo eyebrows, coupled with my inability to paint stunning self-portraits of said eyebrows.
From "Americanized" by Sara Saedi
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
The absence of it is mainly due to a concatenation of inabilities on the part of the writers.
From The English Novel by George Saintsbury
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
