inefficacy

American  

[in-ef-i-kuh-see] / ɪnˈɛf ɪ kə si /

noun

1. lack of power or capacity to produce the desired effect.

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Etymology

Origin of inefficacy

From the Late Latin word inefficācia, dating back to 1605–15. See in- ³, efficacy

Example Sentences

The process is often triggered by post-approval studies showing inefficacy, according to Harvard Law professor I. Glenn Cohen.

From Reuters • Mar. 23, 2023

He seemed to think he could figure this out, make the kind of adjustment he has made so many times before in a career defined by his ability to stave off long stretches of inefficacy.

From Washington Post • Oct. 7, 2022

Mercifully, banner ads are in decline, due less to their ugliness than their inefficacy: Readers quickly learned to ignore them.

From Slate • Jun. 16, 2015

This extraordinary stylistic range stems from Graham’s wish to make a lavish formal show of her epistemological turbulence, her poems’ provisional victories over their own inefficacy.

From The New Yorker • Mar. 23, 2015

This bland acceptance of the meaninglessness and the inefficacy of beauty is habitual to most young professionals who wield pen or pencil.

From Personality in Literature by Scott-James, Rolfe Arnold