IMPOTENT • E-FREE TRANSLATION.COM • Definition of Impotent

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/ˈɪmpətənt/ Listen

adjective

Impotent adj.

Not potent; wanting power, strength. or vigor. whether physical, intellectual, or moral; deficient in capacity; destitute of force; weak; feeble; infirm. "There sat a certain man at Lystra, impotent inhis feet." "O most lame and impotent conclusion!" "Not slow to hear, Nor impotent to save."

Wanting the power of self-restraint; incontrolled; ungovernable; violent. "Impotent of tongue, her silence broke."

(Med.) Wanting the power of procreation; unable to copulate; also, sometimes, sterile; barren; specifically, in males: Unable to achieve or sustain a penile erection.

noun

Impotent n. One who is impotent. (R.)

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Etymology of 'Impotent'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Impotent" Quotes from Famous Books

... themselves, suffered from the then convulsed state of the world. They asked him, "Where is thy God?" But he declined founding the believer's privileges on individual exemptions, or personal providences. "My God," said he, "in all his attributes, different from the false impotent Gods of the Heathen, is to be found wherever his worshippers are;—if I am carried into captivity, his consolations shall yet reach me;—if I lose the possessions of this life, my precious faith shall still supply their want;—and ...

— The Loyalists, Vol. 1-3 - An Historical Novel • Jane West

... and that of a distinction between the pauper and the vagabond, were more clearly defined in a statute of 1572. By this Act the justices in the country districts, and mayors and other officers in towns, were directed to register the impotent poor, to settle them in fitting habitations and to assess all inhabitants for their support. Overseers were appointed to enforce and superintend their labour, for which wool, hemp, flax, or other stuff was to be provided at the expense of the inhabitants; ...

— History of the English People - Volume 4 (of 8) • John Richard Green

... old man was not carried to the house without a scene. He raved, and screamed, and swore, and finally fell to the ground in a fit of impotent rage, protesting to the last that Jack was a liar. When those who were present had been worked up to the highest pitch of excitement, Bradley ...

— Mingo - And Other Sketches in Black and White • Joel Chandler Harris

... with most formidable effect. The Tories acted after their kind. Instead of removing the grievance they tried to put down the agitation, and brought in a law, apparently sharp and stringent, but in truth utterly impotent, for restraining the right of petition. Lord Holland's Protest on that occasion ...

— Critical and Historical Essays Volume 1 • Thomas Babington Macaulay

... a forward movement we should have sprung upon them with the ferocity of bull-dogs. Those four soldiers never knew how near they were to meeting their deserts upon that day. As it was we merely scraped our feet in impotent rage. It was this fidgeting which aroused their attention. They turned and must have read our innermost intentions written in our faces, for they instantly grabbed their rifles and rounded upon us. With a motion which could not be misunderstood, ...

— Sixteen Months in Four German Prisons - Wesel, Sennelager, Klingelputz, Ruhleben • Henry Charles Mahoney

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