1
as in sterile
not able to produce fruit or offspring
most mules are impotent
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in helpless
unable to act or achieve one's purpose
an impotent ruler who was just a figurehead
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of impotent
The New England Patriots withstood Garrett’s big day and one early push by the impotent Cleveland offense Sunday before pulling away in the second half for their fifth straight win.
—
Zac Jackson, New York Times, 27 Oct. 2025
Yet the Jets' offense was again impotent.
—Andrew Greif, NBC news, 19 Oct. 2025
Ethics without efficiency are impotent.
—Karlo Tanjuakio, Forbes.com, 29 Aug. 2025
What the Texas Legislature is doing is indefensible – gerrymandering necessarily involves taking portions of the electorate and rendering their voices impotent.
—Rafael Perez, Oc Register, 20 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for impotent
Zac Jackson, New York Times, 27 Oct. 2025
Yet the Jets' offense was again impotent.
—Andrew Greif, NBC news, 19 Oct. 2025
Ethics without efficiency are impotent.
—Karlo Tanjuakio, Forbes.com, 29 Aug. 2025
What the Texas Legislature is doing is indefensible – gerrymandering necessarily involves taking portions of the electorate and rendering their voices impotent.
—Rafael Perez, Oc Register, 20 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for impotent
Recent Examples of Synonyms for impotent
Adjective
-
This makes your home feel intentional and personal instead of sterile and unoriginal.—
Ashlyn Needham,
The Spruce,
8 Jan. 2026
-
Many japonica camellias, in the manner of other botanical hybrids, are sterile with their yellow, thread-like stamens and stigmas either absent or invisible.—
Joshua Siskin,
Oc Register,
8 Jan. 2026
Adjective
-
People eventually outgrow the helpless-baby stage.—
Anna Louie Sussman,
The Atlantic,
7 Nov. 2025
-
Without money and without a means to earn it, women are helpless to determine the course of their own lives.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
6 Nov. 2025
Adjective
-
The barren Martian landscape stretches as far as the eye can see, interrupted only occasionally by the faintest of tire tracks marking the unpaved road on Libya’s north-south route.—
Mick Krever,
CNN Money,
6 Nov. 2025
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In the wild, macaques can traverse miles of novel terrain each week and socialize through grooming, but in many laboratories they are isolated in barren cages no bigger than a washing machine.—
Ava Kofman,
New Yorker,
3 Nov. 2025
Adjective
-
Clancy allegedly strangled her three children and then tried to kill herself by jumping out a window in 2023, leaving her paralyzed from the sternum down.—
Colleen Cronin,
Boston Herald,
7 Jan. 2026
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Smith, an Arizona husband and father, is completely paralyzed and relies on a ventilator to breathe.—
Khloe Quill,
FOXNews.com,
5 Jan. 2026
Adjective
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New orders contracted for a fourth month and export bookings remained weak, based on the ISM data.—
Reade Pickert Bloomberg,
Arkansas Online,
6 Jan. 2026
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Getting too little of either can lead to weak, brittle bones, and too much can also cause problems (like kidney stones or nausea).—
T'Keyah Bazin,
Verywell Health,
6 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Impotent.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/impotent. Accessed 10 Jan. 2026.
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