impuissance

Definitions

im- (not) + puissance (power) = 'powerlessness.' Puissance is a French word for 'power' that grew out of Vulgar Latin posse ('to be able'), so impuissance is the French-route cousin of impotence — same idea (no power), but it entered English through French rather than straight from Latin.

Why It Means This

Impuissance is rare and literary in English — you'll meet it in older or formal prose, almost never in speech. It overlaps with impotence in the 'powerlessness' sense but lacks the medical meaning. Because it kept its French shape, the spelling and stress feel foreign, which is part of why writers reach for it: it sounds elevated.

Common Collocations

• 1.sense of impuissance无力感
• 2.display impuissance表现出无力

Example Sentences

• 1.

  The poem captures the impuissance of those left behind by history.

• 2.

  A sense of impuissance settled over the defeated army.