as in inability
the lack of sufficient ability, power, or means
the congressional committee's essential impotence in affecting the management of the war was frustrating to its members
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Recent Examples of impotence
The League of Nations, bereft of U.S. support, languished into impotence, and only in the aftermath of World War II did the United States begin to approximate Wilson’s vision of a Pax Americana.
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Richard Menger Md Mpa, Forbes, 13 Jan. 2025
Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, those totems of Democratic impotence, entered together and acted as if they’d been instructed never to shoot each other so much as a passing glance.
—Vinson Cunningham, The New Yorker, 20 Jan. 2025
Social media, though, offers an alternative to this impotence.
—Callum Booth, Forbes, 16 Jan. 2025
As such, side effects of surgery and radiation therapy for prostate cancer often include incontinence, impotence and bowel dysfunction.
—Michael Irving, New Atlas, 9 Jan. 2025
See All Example Sentences for impotence
Richard Menger Md Mpa, Forbes, 13 Jan. 2025
Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, those totems of Democratic impotence, entered together and acted as if they’d been instructed never to shoot each other so much as a passing glance.
—Vinson Cunningham, The New Yorker, 20 Jan. 2025
Social media, though, offers an alternative to this impotence.
—Callum Booth, Forbes, 16 Jan. 2025
As such, side effects of surgery and radiation therapy for prostate cancer often include incontinence, impotence and bowel dysfunction.
—Michael Irving, New Atlas, 9 Jan. 2025
See All Example Sentences for impotence
Cite this Entry
“Impotence.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/impotence. Accessed 14 Apr. 2025.
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