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

• ˈpowerlessness, noun
• ˈpowerlessly, adverb

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

Meanwhile, the New York Times, in a “news” article — I use that term very lightly and broadly — gave us their opinion about a “depressed and demoralized Democratic Party,” which has begun a “painful slog into a largely powerless future.”

From Salon

At least that’s what happened Tuesday in La Crescenta, where multiple law enforcement and wildlife personnel spent the afternoon monitoring a bear cub hanging out in a tree in front of Crescenta Valley High School, powerless to compel the creature to go home.

From Los Angeles Times

And the courts would be powerless to stop him, because they could not interfere with this “political question.”

From Slate

I'm obsessed with the idea of power because I have so often felt powerless, and I have so often felt powerful.

From Salon

That’s powerless shrug-emoji narrative is not merely the signpost pointing into the abyss, which is pretty much where the party is already, but a death march toward obliteration and irrelevance.

From Salon

Related Words

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