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Definition
lacking power or abilityor of a male: unable to copulate
- Simon would have regarded with impotent fury the disturbance between the North and the South, as it left his descendants stripped of everything but their land,Harper Lee -- To Kill a Mockingbird
impotent = lacking power
- 1 AVOC: But that Volpone would have ravish'd her, he holds Utterly false; knowing his impotence.Ben Jonson -- Volpone
- When he speaks he moves our men to impotence.Chinua Achebe -- Things Fall Apart
- They become more and more impotent with every season.Roger Zelazny -- Lord of Light
- He repeated his story, harshly recapitulant, seeming toget an actual pleasure out of his outrage and impotence.William Faulkner -- The Sound and the Fury
- Beady Jones and Braverman showed an inflamed and impotent eagerness to take their turn.Zane Grey -- The Border Legion
- On the whole, he had never felt so impotent in his life.Stephen King -- Cujo
- Why do we stand here impotently in the face of such an outrageous crime, covered by such a ridiculous deception?Stephenie Meyer -- Breaking Dawn
- I felt stupid and utterly impotent when confronted by their tears.Jon Krakauer -- Into Thin Air
- With barbarous and insane fury, with sheer impotent folly, he swept a clawing hand for his gun.Zane Grey -- The Lone Star Ranger
- It does not take money long to make plain its impotence, providing the desires are in the realm of affection.Theodore Dreiser -- Sister Carrie
- What is my freedom, if all creatures, even the botched and the impotent, are my masters?Ayn Rand -- Anthem
- It will make you impotent!Malcolm Gladwell -- The Tipping Point
- The boss slashed impotently at newspapers, printed blurry slips and pasted items askew.Betty Smith -- A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
- His rage and impotence is now almost ecstatic.William Faulkner -- Light in August
- I couldn't shake off that clinging impotence.Mark Twain -- A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court
- Since artists are politically impotent, they must use this time to develop at deeper emotional levels.Ian McEwan -- Atonement
- It had begun to seem to them that events were trying to prove that they were impotent.Stephen Crane -- The Red Badge of Courage
- Many letters tell of soldiers hiding fugitives in camp and laughing at the impotent rage of owners who went home empty-handed.James M. McPherson -- What They Fought For - 1861-1865
- At that moment, the viscount could not help uttering an exclamation of impotent rage.Gaston Leroux -- The Phantom of the Opera