powerless

[ pou-er-lis ]

adjective

1. unable to produce an effect:

   a disease against which modern medicine is virtually powerless.

   Synonyms: ineffective

2. lacking power pow power to act; helpless:

   His legs crumpled, and he was powerless to rise.

   Synonyms: infirm, prostrate, impotent, feeble

powerless

/ ˈpaʊəlɪs /

adjective

1. without power or authority

Derived Forms

• ˈpowerlessly, adverb
• ˈpowerlessness, noun

Other Words From

• power·less·ly adverb
• power·less·ness noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of powerless¹

First recorded in 1545–55; power + -less

Example Sentences

That left the agency powerless to stop states from filling in the vacuum with their own legislation.

From Quartz

In its wake, I let dozens of texts go unanswered, powerless to send a “Hey, catch up later,” but too drained to have a conversation.

From Outside Online

Living in your powerless homeNow it’s time to think about what life will look like in your survival space.

From Popular-Science

They had to rely on Salsman to be their advocate, to represent them at a time they felt powerless, and instead they were preyed upon.

From Washington Post

My silence, I realized, was due in part to my sense that I was powerless.

From Eater

He had been scared and powerless to protect himself, and Moscow had been silent.

From The Daily Beast

While quarantined, she was seemingly powerless to challenge her banishment to a tent in Newark.

From The Daily Beast

Unable to make it to a hospital, or too afraid, parents are dying at home alongside kids who are powerless to save them.

From The Daily Beast

But the malpractice system is not robust in China, and patients feel powerless.

From The Daily Beast

Hanifa and her father and mother and brother spent 10 days on the mountain, fearing for the girls, but powerless to help them.

From The Daily Beast

As men fixed in the grip of nightmare, we were powerless—unable to do anything but wait.

From Project Gutenberg

But for the most part even industry and endowment were powerless against the inertia of custom and the dead-weight of environment.

From Project Gutenberg

The new forces controlled by mankind have been powerless as yet to remove want and destitution, hard work and social discontent.

From Project Gutenberg

The man who allows himself to be crucified is no true saviour, because by allowing it he renders himself powerless to save.

From Project Gutenberg

Now they were fugitive and nearly powerless, and I knew the Zervs were few in number from my own observation.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• defenseless
• disenfranchised
• helpless
• impotent
• incapable
• ineffective
• ineffectual
• inert
• paralyzed
• passive
• vulnerable
• weak