impotence

Definitions

im- (not) + potent (powerful) + -ence (state) = 'the state of having no power.' The general meaning is helplessness — power that should be there but isn't. The medical sense is a narrowing of the same image to one specific kind of failed capacity.

Why It Means This

The broad sense ('a feeling of impotence in the face of climate change') is the original and most common in writing. The clinical sense came later as a polite cover term; in modern medical English it's largely replaced by 'erectile dysfunction.' Context tells you which is meant — political/emotional writing points to helplessness, medical context to the physical condition.

Common Collocations

• 1.political impotence政治上的无能为力
• 2.sense of impotence无力感
• 3.feeling of impotence无力的感觉
• 4.treat impotence治疗阳痿

Example Sentences

• 1.

  He felt a deep impotence as he watched the flood destroy his home.

• 2.

  The committee's impotence frustrated everyone who had hoped for change.

• 3.

  The doctor discussed possible causes of impotence with the patient.