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.
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
When clinicians blur the line between suffering and incapacity, accommodation loses its meaning, standards lose force, and those with genuine impairments are met with suspicion.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 19, 2026
An important caveat: delusions six years ago and intermittent bouts of paranoia do not automatically indicate legal incapacity.
From MarketWatch ● Dec. 30, 2025
It is Brett and Jake’s dilemma distilled, her hunger for love, his incapacity, their knowing futility.
From Salon ● Nov. 8, 2025
I wondered where Cohn got that incapacity to enjoy Paris.
From "The Sun Also Rises" by Ernest Hemingway
Definitions 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.
