impotent

[ im-puh-tuhnt ]

/ ˈɪm pə tənt /

SEE SYNONYMS FOR impotent ON THESAURUS.COM

adjective

not potent; lacking power or ability.

utterly unable (to do something).

without force or effectiveness.

lacking bodily strength or physically helpless.

(of a male) unable to attain or sustain a penile erection.

(especially of a male) sterile.

Obsolete. without restraint.

noun

an impotent person: therapy for sexual impotents.

Origin of impotent

1350–1400; Middle English < Latin impotent- (stem of impotēns) without power over oneself or others. See im-², potent¹

SYNONYMS FOR impotent

1, 2 powerless, helpless.

3 ineffectual, ineffective, feeble, weak.

SEE SYNONYMS FOR impotent ON THESAURUS.COM

OTHER WORDS FROM impotent

im·po·tent·ly, adverb

Words nearby impotent

impostor syndrome, impostume, imposture, imposure, impotence, impotent, impound, impoundment, impoverish, impoverished, impower

Example sentences from the Web for impotent

As the protagonist gets herself off in front of her impotent husband, she moans “Oh, Gronky.”

‘A Gronking to Remember’ Speed Read: 8 Naughtiest Bits |Emily Shire |January 7, 2015 |DAILY BEAST
He was prescribed a course of hormone pills that caused him to grow breasts and rendered him impotent.

The Castration of Alan Turing, Britain’s Code-Breaking WWII Hero |Clive Irving |November 29, 2014 |DAILY BEAST
Of course, what people like Erickson and Sarah Palin want the House to do is impeach Obama, not file an impotent lawsuit.

Obama Should Counter John Boehner’s Lawsuit—and Here’s How He Can Do It |Dean Obeidallah |July 9, 2014 |DAILY BEAST
Chicago is a city imperiled by impotent leadership that is unwilling to face down this crisis.

Send the National Guard to Chicago |Roland S. Martin |July 9, 2014 |DAILY BEAST

An impotent democracy has left its people feeling powerless.

Argentina’s Drag & Drop Democracy |Jeff Campagna |March 12, 2014 |DAILY BEAST
Impotent persons were to be removed to the place where they had resided for three years, and allowed to beg.

Landholding In England |Joseph Fisher
He held his mother's band; if he could but feel one pressure of the slight fingers before they were impotent for ever!

Demos |George Gissing
In the present day they are mere bluster of impotent odium theologicum.

The Expositor's Bible: The Book of Daniel |F. W. Farrar
How is it that girls are so potent to refuse such favours at one time, and so impotent in preventing their exaction at another?

The Bertrams |Anthony Trollope
I also see men here and there fling themselves in impotent disloyalty against the calm, indomitable power of the nation.

President Wilson's Addresses |Woodrow Wilson

British Dictionary definitions for impotent

impotent

/ (ˈɪmpətənt) /

adjective

(when postpositive, often takes an infinitive) lacking sufficient strength; powerless

(esp of males) unable to perform sexual intercourse See erectile impotence

obsolete lacking self-control; unrestrained

Derived forms of impotent

impotence, impotency or impotentness, noun impotently, adverb

Medical definitions for impotent

impotent

[ ĭm′pə-tənt ]

adj.

Incapable of sexual intercourse, often because of an inability to achieve or sustain an erection.

Sterile. Used of males.

BROWSE DICTIONARY

Learning

impotent

adjective

noun

Origin of impotent

SYNONYMS FOR impotent

OTHER WORDS FROM impotent

Words nearby impotent

Example sentences from the Web for impotent

British Dictionary definitions for impotent

adjective

Derived forms of impotent

Medical definitions for impotent

adj.

BROWSE DICTIONARY

Learning

impotent

adjective

noun

Origin of impotent

SYNONYMS FOR impotent

OTHER WORDS FROM impotent

Words nearby impotent

Words related to impotent

Example sentences from the Web for impotent

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adjective

Derived forms of impotent

Medical definitions for impotent

adj.

British Dictionary definitions for impotent