noun
- the quality or state of being powerless; lack of power or strength
Usage: formal; literary
Examples
- The committee’s impuissance in the face of budget cuts was evident.
- He felt a sense of impuissance when confronted with the massive bureaucracy.
- The nation’s military impuissance left it vulnerable to invasion.
- Her impuissance to change the situation frustrated her deeply.
- The treaty exposed the empire’s growing impuissance on the world stage.
- Political impuissance often leads to public discontent.