impotent

/ˈɪmpətənt/ (bre, ipa) · /ˈɪmpətənt/ (ame, ipa) · /ˈim-pə-tənt/ (ame, mw)

impotent — 形容詞

  • impotentpositive
  • more impotentcomparative
  • most impotentsuperlative

1. lacking the strength, authority, or resources needed to affect what is happening

1.形容詞C1
釋義

無能為力的

缺乏改變現況的力量或權限

lacking the strength, authority, or resources needed to affect what is happening, often when you wish you could intervene

例句

Local farmers felt impotent as Quinn's mining company drained their wells.

當 Quinn 的礦業公司抽乾水井時，當地農民感到無能為力。

predicative use: feel impotent + as-clause

The small town council was impotent against the highway project funded by the federal government.

面對聯邦政府資助的高速公路工程，這個小鎮議會根本束手無策。

collocation: impotent against [stronger force]

同義詞
  • powerless

    more neutral and more common; impotent carries a stronger sense of frustrated will

  • helpless

    emphasises lack of means to help oneself or others; less about formal authority

  • ineffectual

    stresses that one's actions produce no result, even if attempted

反義詞

用法筆記

Frequently predicative (after be, feel, leave, stand) and often paired with against + opposing force or to + infinitive describing the action you cannot take. Distinguish from sense 2 and 3 (specifically about male sexual or reproductive function).

常見錯誤

❌The committee impotently voted against the bill.
✅The committee, impotent to block the bill, voted against it anyway.
💡'impotent' describes a state of powerlessness, not the manner of an action; use the adjective predicatively rather than an adverb.

2. describing a man whose penis does not become or stay firm enough for sexual inte

2.形容詞C1
釋義

陽痿的

男性無法勃起或維持勃起

describing a man whose penis does not become or stay firm enough for sexual intercourse, usually as a medical condition

例句

After his prostate surgery, João worried he might be permanently impotent.

在攝護腺手術之後，João 擔心自己可能會永久陽痿。

Heavy drinking over many years had left Christopher impotent by his early fifties.

多年酗酒讓 Christopher 在五十出頭就陽痿了。

collocation: leave [someone] impotent

同義詞
  • infertile

    different meaning — about not being able to father children, not about erection

  • sterile

    also about reproduction, not sexual function

反義詞
  • potent

    in the specific sexual sense, increasingly rare in modern English

用法筆記

Predicative only in this sense; not normally used attributively before a noun. Subject is always a male human or a man's body. In modern clinical writing, 'with erectile dysfunction' has largely replaced 'impotent' as the preferred term.

常見錯誤

❌She felt impotent in the bedroom.
✅She felt powerless in the relationship.
💡this sense applies only to men; for women, use 'powerless' or describe the specific issue.

3. describing a man whose body cannot produce a baby with a partner, often used in

3.形容詞C1
釋義

不能生育的

男性身體無法使伴侶懷孕

describing a man whose body cannot produce a baby with a partner, often used in older texts where modern writers would say infertile

例句

Old medical journals labelled men with low sperm counts as impotent, blurring two different conditions.

舊的醫學期刊把精子數量偏低的男性標為 impotent，混淆了兩種不同狀況。

In the Victorian novel, the squire was described as impotent and so left his estate to a cousin.

在那本維多利亞時代的小說裡，這位鄉紳被描述為不能生育，因此把莊園留給了堂弟。

literary/historical register

同義詞
  • infertile

    the modern preferred term for this meaning

  • sterile

    stronger medical term implying no possibility of producing offspring

反義詞

用法筆記

Largely historical or literary. Distinguish from sense 2 — sense 2 is about erection, sense 3 is about producing offspring. In modern English, use 'infertile' for this meaning to avoid ambiguity.

常見錯誤

❌My doctor says I'm impotent because my sperm count is low.
✅My doctor says I'm infertile because my sperm count is low.
💡modern doctors reserve 'impotent' for erection problems; 'infertile' is the correct term for low sperm count.