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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Recent Examples of impotent
The trade immediately improved the Kings’ offense and rescued an impotent power play, helping win 17 of its final 22 games to place second in the Pacific Division, the best finish of Blake’s term as general manager.
—
Kevin Baxter, Los Angeles Times, 5 May 2025
Marching in demonstrations and appearing on news programs quickly came to feel impotent.
—Annie Hylton, The New Yorker, 11 Jan. 2025
Certain players, without their hair, could appear gaunt and impotent.
—Zach Helfand, The New Yorker, 3 Mar. 2025
In other words, Musk’s team was in effect rendering impotent an agency that had the power to regulate elements of his business.
—Niall Stanage, The Hill, 18 Feb. 2025
See All Example Sentences for impotent
Kevin Baxter, Los Angeles Times, 5 May 2025
Marching in demonstrations and appearing on news programs quickly came to feel impotent.
—Annie Hylton, The New Yorker, 11 Jan. 2025
Certain players, without their hair, could appear gaunt and impotent.
—Zach Helfand, The New Yorker, 3 Mar. 2025
In other words, Musk’s team was in effect rendering impotent an agency that had the power to regulate elements of his business.
—Niall Stanage, The Hill, 18 Feb. 2025
See All Example Sentences for impotent
Recent Examples of Synonyms for impotent
Adjective
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Back then, 600 million sterile flies were released each week, the NYT explains, and the fly was eliminated.—
Cara Lynn Shultz,
People.com,
28 July 2025
-
This facility will have the capability to disperse sterile flies in Northern Mexico.—
Mandy Taheri
Gabe Whisnant,
MSNBC Newsweek,
10 July 2025
Adjective
-
When employees bring problems to their leaders, a dangerous dynamic often emerges, one that turns capable professionals into helpless children and transforms managers into overbearing parents.—
Mark Murphy,
Forbes.com,
30 July 2025
-
For the first time in his life, the great shark couldn’t swim freely and, panic-stricken, bolted clear of his world and there was only emptiness, and his tail and pectoral fins were helpless in the void.—
Pat Smith,
Outdoor Life,
24 July 2025
Adjective
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Then there is Canada and Greenland’s beef over the uninhabited Hans Island, a barren spit in the Kennedy Channel.—
Charlie Campbell,
Time,
25 July 2025
-
Brown, barren, patchy spots in your lawn can be unsightly.—
Cody Godwin,
USA Today,
24 July 2025
Adjective
-
Carl Schulze, of Neenah, has used a wheelchair since 2007, when an accident severed his spinal cord and left him completely paralyzed.—
Madeline Heim,
jsonline.com,
26 July 2025
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In June 2022, his face was left partially paralyzed following a Ramsay Hunt Syndrome diagnosis, which forced him to halt his Justice tour and then cancel it entirely.—
Althea Legaspi,
Rolling Stone,
23 July 2025
Adjective
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Last month and August 2024 also saw a weak start, so this comes as no surprise.—
Billy Bambrough,
Forbes.com,
2 Aug. 2025
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This downward movement was attributed to both weak job figures and a new round of U.S. tariffs announced by Trump.—
Anna Commander,
MSNBC Newsweek,
2 Aug. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Impotent.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/impotent. Accessed 5 Aug. 2025.
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