powerless
English
Alternative forms
- powerlesse (obsolete)
Etymology
From Middle English pouerles, powerles, equivalent to power + -less.
Pronunciation
- (General American) IPA(key): /ˈpaʊɚləs/
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈpaʊələs/
- Hyphenation: pow‧er‧less
Audio (US) (file)
Adjective
powerless (comparative more powerless, superlative most powerless)
- Lacking sufficient power or strength.
- I admit that I am powerless over my hatred towards white people in ways that I am unable to recognize fully, both at this time and in the past.
- 1899 February, Joseph Conrad, “The Heart of Darkness”, in Blackwood’s Edinburgh Magazine, volume CLXV, number M, New York, N.Y.: The Leonard Scott Publishing Company, […], →OCLC, part I, page 196:
- “Imagine the growing regrets, the longing to escape, the powerless disgust, the surrender, the hate.”
- 1914, James Joyce, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man:
- It is said that his right arm had grown powerless from having been raised so often over the heads of those whom he baptized.
- Lacking legal authority.
- The traffic warden was powerless to stop me driving away.
Synonyms
Derived terms
Translations
lacking sufficient power or strength
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lacking legal authority
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