impotence

[ im-puh-tuhns ]

noun

1. the condition or quality of being impotent; weakness.
2. chronic inability to attain or sustain an erection for the performance of a sexual act.
3. sterility, especially in the male.
4. Obsolete. lack of self-restraint.

Word History and Origins

Origin of impotence¹

First recorded in 1375–1425; late Middle English, variant of impotencie, from Latin impotentia “lack of self-control, weakness”; -ence, im- ², potency

Example Sentences

And over the past year or so, I have come to regard online fact-checking platforms as perhaps the foremost symbols of journalistic impotence in the Trump era.

From Slate

Andreu Salom, mayor of L’Alcúldia, said he felt “abandonment and absolute impotence”.

From BBC

For America’s critics in the region, the apparent impotence of the superpower when it comes to influencing the largest recipient of US aid is baffling.

From BBC

Witness the current impotence of the United Nations in the face of the many global challenges, and the despair of its secretary-general, António Guterres, who has said that with climate change, “Humanity has opened the gates of hell.”

From Salon

In the secular realm, Douglas Blow posits in “On the Importance of Being an Individual in Renaissance Italy” that a similar desire took hold over urbane Italians reduced to impotence in the face of repeated invasions and occupations by foreign powers like France and Spain from 1494 onwards.

From Salon

Related Words

• helplessness
• powerlessness