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.

I am, utterly and powerlessly, sorry you and the millions got stuck holding the Pez.

From Washington Post • Dec. 2, 2021

In 1960s Montana, 14-year-old Joe watches powerlessly as his parents’ marriage slowly begins to fall apart.

From Los Angeles Times • Jul. 19, 2019

We let them know that they don’t just have to sit powerlessly and helplessly while idiots threaten the safety of all of us.

From Slate • Aug. 1, 2018

Five years later, I am watching powerlessly from afar a very different manifestation of climate change – one that is made worse by a terrible lack of water in my hometown.

From The Guardian • Dec. 8, 2017

As long as Strauss remained a minority voice on the Atomic Energy Commission, however, he could only chafe powerlessly at Oppenheimer’s exalted role as the AEC’s leading scientific advisor.

From "Big Science" by Michael Hiltzik