as in helpless
unable to act or achieve one's purpose
I wish I could help you, but I am powerless in this situation
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Recent Examples of powerless
They could be used to intimidate voters, and local officials would be powerless to stop it.
—
Alexandra Kukulka, Chicago Tribune, 28 Feb. 2026
Why Grant Williams sat After starting at power forward in Thursday’s loss, Grant Williams was on the bench in street clothes and powerless to do anything to help stifle the Cavs’ size on the interior.
—Roderick Boone, Charlotte Observer, 21 Feb. 2026
For all their efforts to convene well-meaning elites, the organizers of the Paris Peace Congress remained powerless to stop the relentless logic of an arms race playing out outside their control.
—Billy Perrigo, Time, 17 Feb. 2026
Utility crews then patrol any powerless lines to find and correct the cause of the outage before restoring power, Core officials said.
—Lauren Penington, Denver Post, 17 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for powerless
Alexandra Kukulka, Chicago Tribune, 28 Feb. 2026
Why Grant Williams sat After starting at power forward in Thursday’s loss, Grant Williams was on the bench in street clothes and powerless to do anything to help stifle the Cavs’ size on the interior.
—Roderick Boone, Charlotte Observer, 21 Feb. 2026
For all their efforts to convene well-meaning elites, the organizers of the Paris Peace Congress remained powerless to stop the relentless logic of an arms race playing out outside their control.
—Billy Perrigo, Time, 17 Feb. 2026
Utility crews then patrol any powerless lines to find and correct the cause of the outage before restoring power, Core officials said.
—Lauren Penington, Denver Post, 17 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for powerless
Recent Examples of Synonyms for powerless
Adjective
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Weaponized incompetence, or the practice of being so helpless that the labor simply falls on someone else, has long been a feature of domestic life.—
Catherina Gioino,
Fortune,
1 Apr. 2026
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But Lumet and screenwriter Frank Pierson ease up on the laughs as Sonny’s predicament grows more helpless, allowing the audience to feel his desperation as the drama barrels toward a tragic finale.—
Patrick Ryan,
USA Today,
31 Mar. 2026
Adjective
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Carrington said Ny'Leek died of cardiac arrest Thursday, a little more than a year after surviving a hit-and-run that left him paralyzed from the neck down.—
Ryan Hughes,
CBS News,
28 Mar. 2026
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The conflict has physically split the energy world into two paralyzed halves.—
Siddharth Misra,
Fortune,
28 Mar. 2026
Adjective
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The slide appears to have involved a thick slab of soft snow breaking loose at a weak layer in the snowpack, the report said.—
Ethan Baron,
Mercury News,
4 Apr. 2026
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Endowed not only with a privileged birthright but—unlike the actual princes over in England, who had weak chins and went bald young—the physical stature to match?—
Jeffrey Eugenides,
New Yorker,
4 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Powerless.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/powerless. Accessed 5 Apr. 2026.
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