impotent

adjective

im·​po·​tent ˈim-pə-tənt 

1

a

: not potent : lacking in power, strength, or vigor : helpless

b

: unable to engage in sexual intercourse because of inability to have and maintain an erection

broadly : sterile

2

obsolete : incapable of self-restraint : ungovernable

impotent noun

impotently adverb

Did you know?

A police department may be impotent to stop the flow of drugs into a neighborhood. A group of countries may be impotent to force another country to change its human-rights policies. The impotence of a prime minister may be shown by her inability to get an important piece of legislation passed. Impotent and impotence may also have a special meaning, when they refer to a man's inability to have sexual intercourse.

Synonyms

• barren
• fruitless
• infertile
• sterile
• unfruitful

Examples of impotent in a Sentence

an impotent ruler who was just a figurehead

Recent Examples on the Web

The role turns on a dime between larger-than-life villain to kindly father figure, from smooth-talking charmer to impotent comic relief, and Slater tears into each facet of the character with bloodthirsty relish. —Angie Han, The Hollywood Reporter, 18 Apr. 2024

Gupta, whose cherubic face belies an underlying intensity, vividly conveys Reena’s impotent teenage anger, while Goudry reveals the fragile spirit under Josephine’s wannabe-gangster bluster. —Kristen Baldwin, EW.com, 17 Apr. 2024

Poetry makes nothing happen, W.H. Auden said in 1939, when words must have seemed especially impotent; but cinema is another matter. —Giles Harvey, New York Times, 19 Dec. 2023

Unfortunately, your options beyond some serious side eye are limited and often a little impotent. —Zach Wichter, USA TODAY, 13 Mar. 2024

President Katalin Novak, Orban’s loyal but largely impotent ally, resigned last Saturday amid public furor over her decision in April 2023 to pardon the deputy director of a children’s home who had helped to cover up the abuse of underaged boys. —Christian Edwards, CNN, 17 Feb. 2024

Pittsburgh may be at the bottom of the division again but won’t be an impotent pushover even though its payroll of $89.7 million is the league’s lowest, using calculations by Cot’s. —Dan Schlossberg, Forbes, 19 Feb. 2024

Erased from the international conversation and subject to an increasingly impotent Palestinian Authority, the Palestinian public slumped into the depths of disillusionment and despair. —Ishaan Tharoor, Washington Post, 31 Jan. 2024

You’re concerned but feeling impotent — worried that your individual actions aren’t enough to tame this towering beast? —Judy Berlfein, San Diego Union-Tribune, 25 Jan. 2024

Word History

Etymology

Middle English, from Anglo-French & Latin; Anglo-French, from Latin impotent-, impotens, from in- + potent-, potens potent

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Kids Definition

impotent

adjective

im·​po·​tent ˈim-pət-ənt 

1

: lacking in power or strength

2

: incapable of engaging in sexual intercourse

also : sterile sense 1

—usually used of males

impotently adverb

Medical Definition

impotent

adjective

im·​po·​tent ˈim-pət-ənt 

1

: not potent

an impotent vaccine

2

: unable to engage in sexual intercourse because of inability to have and maintain an erection

broadly : sterile