impuissant means weak; feeble; lacking power. It carries an Arena rating of 1399, earned across 5 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, impuissant ranks #3,309 of 17,163 for Funniest Words, #4,801 of 17,132 for Most Betrayed by Its Sound, #5,570 of 17,128 for Most Ponderous Words, #5,631 of 17,134 for Most Malleable Words.
Why “impuissant” is a great word
Lacking strength, power, or effectiveness; weak or feeble. From French *impuissant*, from the prefix *im-* ("not") + *puissant* ("powerful"), itself from Vulgar Latin *potēre*, from Latin *posse* ("to be able"), first attested in English in the 1620s. Unlike "impotent" (which carries a pointed, often humiliating specificity) or "feeble" (which suggests the frailty of age or fading physical force), *impuissant* speaks of a more diffuse, almost atmospheric lack of efficacy. It is the rusted gate that no longer bars anything, the protest that dissipates before it reaches the street, and the moral argument that exhausts itself in its own utterance—the melancholy condition of having the form of authority without its substance, a quiet surrender of agency.
Etymology
French, from prefix im- (“not”) + puissant. See puissant.
adj
- weak; feeble; lacking power
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
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