1
as in sterile
not able to produce fruit or offspring
most mules are impotent
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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
Ten years into the Trump era, our Democratic avatars still feel obligated to signal their impotent superiority to the person who actually runs the place.
—
Jessica Winter, The New Yorker, 28 Jan. 2025
Biden was impotent in the face of Putin’s Ukraine assault, and China has been flexing its muscles with minimal consequence.
—Editorial, Boston Herald, 17 Jan. 2025
Iran Hostage Crisis The seizure of the U.S. Embassy in Tehran by radical student followers of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini on Nov. 4, 1979, and the subsequent siege made the Carter administration seem impotent.
—Marty Steinberg, CNBC, 29 Dec. 2024
People become impotent in the face of new technology only if society permits it.
—Diane Coyle, Foreign Affairs, 22 Aug. 2023
See All Example Sentences for impotent
Jessica Winter, The New Yorker, 28 Jan. 2025
Biden was impotent in the face of Putin’s Ukraine assault, and China has been flexing its muscles with minimal consequence.
—Editorial, Boston Herald, 17 Jan. 2025
Iran Hostage Crisis The seizure of the U.S. Embassy in Tehran by radical student followers of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini on Nov. 4, 1979, and the subsequent siege made the Carter administration seem impotent.
—Marty Steinberg, CNBC, 29 Dec. 2024
People become impotent in the face of new technology only if society permits it.
—Diane Coyle, Foreign Affairs, 22 Aug. 2023
See All Example Sentences for impotent
Recent Examples of Synonyms for impotent
Adjective
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Given this political trend, Sanders has made a terrific-looking but sterile movie.—
Armond White,
National Review,
26 Feb. 2025
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Surrounded by a blank white glare, Amato would open sterile metal tubes to capture the mist.—
Carl Zimmer,
Smithsonian Magazine,
25 Feb. 2025
Adjective
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In Texarkana, the year before, men and boys amused themselves by cutting off strips of flesh and thrusting knives into their helpless victim.—
Liz Tracey,
JSTOR Daily,
21 Feb. 2025
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Amick stars alongside James Spader as a beguiling beauty whom Spader is helpless before.—
Jordan Crucchiola,
Vulture,
13 Feb. 2025
Adjective
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In her first Cowboy Carter teaser during the 2024 Super Bowl, Bey is seen driving a taxi through a barren landscape.—
Rania Aniftos,
Billboard,
19 Feb. 2025
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Is there something about the needy Anja and her ragged child that the barren Isabell responds to?—
Alissa Simon,
Variety,
16 Feb. 2025
Adjective
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He was hospitalized after getting a 5-centimeter chicken bone stuck in his throat, which according to court records left him with a partially paralyzed diaphragm along with lung and heart damage.—
Dan Perry,
Newsweek,
20 Feb. 2025
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In mid-August 2024, the Palestinian Ministry of Health reported the first case of polio in 25 years in a 10-month-old child who had not been vaccinated and became paralyzed, according to the WHO.—
Mary Kekatos,
ABC News,
19 Feb. 2025
Adjective
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Salesforce shares fell in extended trading Wednesday on mixed quarterly results and weak guidance.—
Kevin Stankiewicz,
CNBC,
27 Feb. 2025
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There aren’t enough affordable ones and the charging infrastructure is weak.—
Neil Winton,
Forbes,
27 Feb. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Impotent.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/impotent. Accessed 4 Mar. 2025.
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