impuissance

noun

Definition of impuissancenext
as in impotence

Related Words

Relevance

Dissimilar Words

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of impuissance But all of that will be moot if Washington’s rushing attack is not significantly improved from the impuissance of last season. — Ben Baskin, SI.com, 14 June 2018
Recent Examples of Synonyms for impuissance
  1. impotence
  2. helplessness
  3. powerlessness
  4. exhaustion
  5. fatigue
  6. defenselessness
  7. lassitude
  8. weariness
Noun
  • The Iran and Gaza wars have thrown that absence and European strategic impotence into sharp relief.
    — Galip Dalay, Time, 7 July 2026
  • So imagine his feelings of impotence and rage when the boy is killed anyway, by an impossible arrow that finds its target through a tiny crack in a door and then, apparently, vanishes.
    — Jessica Kiang, Variety, 21 May 2026
Definition of impotence
Noun
  • Welcome to the strange phenomenon of people expressing anger or helplessness to online content creators or writers who don’t acknowledge their specific lifestyles or limitations.
    — Kristen Rogers, CNN Money, 16 July 2026
  • For many Venezuelans, the anger is rooted not in abstract politics but in intensely personal experiences of chaos, helplessness and institutional failure.
    — Antonio María Delgado, Miami Herald, 29 June 2026
Definition of helplessness
Noun
  • This sense of powerlessness, too, is a genuine aspect of a poet’s reality.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 26 June 2026
  • As far as going through life’s grand stages is concerned, this has been a double-whammy of pain and powerlessness.
    — Eric Koreen, New York Times, 21 June 2026
Definition of powerlessness
Noun
  • Competing demands — for example, from illness, injury, or chronic stress — can appear not only as poor health, but also as negative conscious experiences such as anxiety, brain fog, and exhaustion.
    — Rachel Nuwer, Quanta Magazine, 17 July 2026
  • Barrett said the goal is for the justices to have as large a security detail as those dedicated to Cabinet members, in part to avoid burnout and exhaustion among the four to eight officers typically assigned to each justice.
    — Maureen Groppe, USA Today, 14 July 2026
Definition of exhaustion
Noun
  • If testosterone levels are too low, at any age, this can lead to muscle and bone weakness, fatigue, and decline in libido.
    — Nina Shapiro, Forbes.com, 18 July 2026
  • Warning signs worth flagging to a doctor include loud snoring, gasping for air during sleep, severe daytime fatigue, persistent low mood, rapid heart rate and unexplained weight changes.
    — Hanna Wickes, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 17 July 2026
Definition of fatigue
Noun
  • The fragile defenselessness of the proud has proven mesmerizing.
    — Lo Patrick, PEOPLE, 14 July 2026
Definition of defenselessness
Noun
  • Stranger by the Lake is a bookend of sorts to La Piscine, as both films seem to condemn their characters, and by extension, the counterculture surrounding them, to a lassitude incapable of any moral authority.
    — Erik Morse, Vogue, 26 June 2025
  • The result of this lassitude is that cars still rule the streets.
    — Justin Davidson, Curbed, 18 Apr. 2025
Definition of lassitude
Noun
  • There’s a desperation in his voice, a weariness that evokes bad nights’ sleep and endless doomscrolling, but there’s also a delicacy to his performance, a gentleness that has precedent in his catalog but still feels new.
    — Stephen M. Deusner, Pitchfork, 17 July 2026
  • Eventually, weariness begins to affect more than just your mood.
    — Scott Hanson, Forbes.com, 2 July 2026
Definition of weariness

Browse Nearby Words

impugns
impuissance
impuissant
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Impuissance.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/impuissance. Accessed 24 Jul. 2026.

Copy Citation
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of itinerant

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Democracy or Republic: What's the difference?

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Do you 'say your piece' or 'say your peace'?

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

It's a Scorcher! Words for the Summer Heat

The Longest Long Words List

Ten Words Ending with a Silent ‘T’

The Words of the Week - Jul 24

Why do we say 'fly off the handle'?
See More

Popular

See More

Democracy or Republic: What's the difference?

It's a Scorcher! Words for the Summer Heat

The Longest Long Words List
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
chain-question-mark
Missing Link Quiz July 2026 Five seconds to figure out the word that fits bot...
See All