incapacity
Americannoun
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lack of ability, qualification, or strength; incapability.
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Law. lack of the legal power to act in a specified way or ways.
noun
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lack of power, strength, or capacity; inability
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law
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legal disqualification or ineligibility
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a circumstance causing this
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Etymology
Origin of incapacity
From the Late Latin word incapācitās, dating back to 1605–15. See in- 3, capacity
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.
PIP is particularly valuable because it is a gateway to other incapacity payments and can remove a cap on the total amount of unemployment or housing benefits a family can claim.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 12, 2026
Trusts are designed to manage assets, distribute income, prevent beneficiaries from getting too much money at one time, and, in many cases, avoid probate and help plan for a beneficiary’s incapacity.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 25, 2026
Reports cite a range of complicated factors for the restraint, from apathy to technology-induced incapacity.
From Salon ● May 28, 2026
And most glaringly, while back in 2002 when Iain Duncan Smith visited Easterhouse, around a quarter of recipients of incapacity benefits were for mental or behavioural reasons; today, it's close to half.
From BBC ● Mar. 30, 2026
He is strong and pain is worse to the strong incapacity is worse.
From "Watership Down: A Novel" by Richard Adams
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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.
