From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishimpotentim‧po‧tent /ˈɪmpətənt/ adjective 1 CAN'Tunable to take effective action because you do not have enough power, strength, or control Emergency services seem impotent in the face of such a disaster. impotent rage2 MIa man who is impotent is unable to have sex because he cannot get an erection —impotently adverb —impotence noun [uncountable] political impotence
Examples from the Corpus
impotent• A society, apparently working well, can stand impotent before its most domestic and external threats and important opportunities.• Herta sometimes looks as though she could do with the odd impotent interlude.• A female caged with an impotent male produced clutches at roughly one month intervals.• At one time such excluded or impotent minorities tended to be religious.• Clearly, not all legislatures are impotent or dying institutions.• The U.S. seems impotent to influence events in the region.• At this point, economic incentives and bureaucratic rules alone are impotent to make him a useful citizen. 