powerless
Syllables: pow·er·lessUK/ˈpaʊələs//ˈpaʊɚləs/
powerless adjective: lacking sufficient power or strength.
Adjective
powerless (comparative more powerless, superlative most powerless)
- Lacking sufficient power or strength.
- In Sweden, as we saw, the mistletoe which is gathered on Midsummer Eve is attached to the ceiling of the house, the horse's stall or the cow's crib, in the belief that this renders the Troll powerless to injure man and beast.1890, James George Frazer, The Golden Bough, volume 2, page 362
- “Imagine the growing regrets, the longing to escape, the powerless disgust, the surrender, the hate.”1899 February, Joseph Conrad, “The Heart of Darkness”, in Blackwood’s Edinburgh Magazine, volume CLXV, number M, New York, N.Y.: The Leonard Scott Publishing Company, […], →OCLC, part I, page 196
- Lacking legal authority.
- The traffic warden was powerless to stop me driving away.
- Without electricity or electrical power.
- During the storm, the entire neighborhood was left powerless for several hours
powerless meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu
powerless in Hindi
- lacking sufficient power or strength
- शक्तिहीन śaktihīn
powerless in Tamil
- வலுவிழந்த, வலிமையற்ற, ஆற்றாத, சக்தியற்ற, பலவீனமான
powerless in Marathi
- powerless, effete, feeble
- निर्बल nirbal
- Powerless, helpless, impotent
- कोल kol
powerless in Urdu
- عاجز, بےدم, بےطاقت, کمزور, مجبور, ناتواں
More languagesFewer languages
- powerless in Bengali
- অক্ষম ôkkhôm, অক্ষমা ôkkhôma, শক্তিহীন śoktihin
- powerless in Telugu
- పేదవాడు pēdavāḍu
- powerless in Malayalam
- ത്രാണിയില്ലാത്ത, ശേഷിയില്ലാത്ത, അസമർത്ഥമായ, ബലമില്ലാത്ത
- powerless in Kannada
- ಶಕ್ತಿಹೀನ, ಶಕ್ತಿಯಿಲ್ಲದವರು, ಶಕ್ತಿಹೀನರು
- powerless in Punjabi
- ਸ਼ਕਤੀਹੀਣ
- powerless in Gujarati
- શક્તિહીન, શક્તિવિહીન
- powerless in Odia
- ଶକ୍ତିହୀନ
- powerless in Nepali
- शक्तिहीन, शक्तिविहीन
- powerless in Arabic
- ضَعِيف ḍaʕīf, عَاجِز ʕājiz
Examples of powerless in a sentence
- It is said that his right arm had grown powerless from having been raised so often over the heads of those whom he baptized.1914, James Joyce, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man:
- One thing is clear: after the first accident had occurred, the enginemen on the down express were powerless to avoid the second collision.1952 December, “The Harrow Accident”, in Railway Magazine, page 789:
- But he was powerless to stop what was about to happen.2017, David Walliams [pseudonym; David Edward Williams], Bad Dad, London: HarperCollins Children’s Books, →ISBN:
Synonyms of powerless
Antonyms
Forms of powerless
| comparative | more powerless |
|---|---|
| superlative | most powerless |
| alternative form | powerlesse |
Origin of powerless
From Middle English pouerles, powerles, equivalent to power + -less.
Words formed from powerless
Questions about powerless
- What does powerless mean?
- Powerless means lacking sufficient power or strength.
- What is powerless in Hindi?
- Powerless in Hindi is शक्तिहीन (śaktihīn). See Powerless meaning in Hindi.
- How do you use powerless in a sentence?
- It is said that his right arm had grown powerless from having been raised so often over the heads of those whom he baptized.
- What part of speech is powerless?
- Powerless is an adjective.
- How do you pronounce powerless?
- Powerless is pronounced /ˈpaʊɚləs/ (US).
Words near powerless in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: powerless (page history and authors); powerless (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); कोल (Marathi) (page history and authors); powerless (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors); অক্ষম (Bengali) (page history and authors); పేదవాడు (Telugu) (page history and authors); powerless (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors); powerless (Kannada, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); powerless (Punjabi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); powerless (Gujarati, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); powerless (Odia, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); powerless (Nepali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vininn126-powerless.wav.
Cite this entry: “powerless.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/powerless. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.