as in inability
the lack of sufficient ability, power, or means
her entrenched incapacity for decision-making doesn't make her a very good boss
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Recent Examples of incapacity
An estate plan outlines how your assets will be managed or distributed in case of your death or incapacity.
—
True Tamplin, Forbes.com, 15 May 2025
The President’s ironclad hegemony had become a pathetic circus of blunders until the IMF deal, threatening to prove campaign predictions of amateurism and incapacity to govern true, just as the campaign for the midterm elections gets under way.
—Agustino Fontevecchia, Forbes.com, 20 Apr. 2025
The conjunction of crushing needs and the state's incapacity created fertile ground for NGOs: even before the quake, there were around 10,000 of them in the country.
—Paul Collier, Foreign Affairs, 1 Sep. 2011
But that has historically been interpreted as misconduct or incapacity, not policy disagreements.
—Nik Popli, Time, 17 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for incapacity
True Tamplin, Forbes.com, 15 May 2025
The President’s ironclad hegemony had become a pathetic circus of blunders until the IMF deal, threatening to prove campaign predictions of amateurism and incapacity to govern true, just as the campaign for the midterm elections gets under way.
—Agustino Fontevecchia, Forbes.com, 20 Apr. 2025
The conjunction of crushing needs and the state's incapacity created fertile ground for NGOs: even before the quake, there were around 10,000 of them in the country.
—Paul Collier, Foreign Affairs, 1 Sep. 2011
But that has historically been interpreted as misconduct or incapacity, not policy disagreements.
—Nik Popli, Time, 17 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for incapacity
Recent Examples of Synonyms for incapacity
inability
Noun
-
Part of the scene’s inability to keep the conveyor belt of stars rolling is that the infrastructure that built old Atlanta isn’t as strong, with gentrification and heavy policing uprooting the city’s cultural landscape.—
Andre Gee,
Rolling Stone,
7 Aug. 2025
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In April, Bill Owens, the executive producer of 60 Minutes, resigned, citing his inability to make decisions free from corporate control.—
Ted Johnson,
Deadline,
7 Aug. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Incapacity.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/incapacity. Accessed 20 Aug. 2025.
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