Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
Definition: Powerlessness |
PowerlessnessNoun1. The quality of lacking strength or power; being weak and feeble. Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved. |
Date "powerlessness" was first used in popular English literature: sometime before 1855. (references) |
Synonyms: PowerlessnessSynonyms: impotence (n), impotency (n). (additional references) |
| Antonym: power (n). (additional references) |
| Context | Synonyms within Context (source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus). |
Absence of Influence | Noun: impotence; powerlessness; inertness; irrelevancy. |
| Source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus. | |
Crosswords: Powerlessness |
| English words defined with "powerlessness": Alarm post ♦ helplessness ♦ impuissance ♦ weakness. (references) |
| Specialty definitions using "powerlessness": Hell. (references) |
| Domain | Title |
Books |
|
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| Title | Author | Quote |
Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man | Joyce, James | When the agony of shame had passed from him he tried to raise his soul from its abject powerlessness. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
| Subject | Topic | Quote |
Indigenous People | Australia | However, in practice indigenous Australians continue to experience significantly higher rates of imprisonment, inferior access to medical and educational institutions, greatly reduced life expectancy rates, elevated levels of unemployment, and general discrimination, which contribute to a feeling of powerlessness. (references) |
Source: compiled by the editor from ICON Group International, Inc.; see credits. | ||
| "Powerlessness" is generally used as a noun (singular) -- approximately 100.00% of the time. "Powerlessness" is used about 131 times out of a sample of 100 million words spoken or written in English. Its rank is based on over 700,000 words used in the English language. Some parts-of-speech are not covered due to the samples used by the British National Corpus. (note: percents less than one-hundredth of one percent have been omitted) |
| Parts of Speech | Percent | Usage per 100 Million Words | Rank in English |
| Noun (singular) | 100% | 131 | 27,855 |
Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits.
| The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com. |
| Expression | Frequency per Day |
powerlessness | 18 |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| Language | Translations for "powerlessness"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses. | ||||||||||||||||
Arabic | الضعف (asthenia, debilitation, fragility, jellification, littleness, maceration). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||
Chinese | 力 (impotency, incapability, Powerless). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||
Finnish | voimattomuus (infirmity, lack of strength, weakness). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||
French | impuissance. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||
German | machtlosigkeit (helplessness, impotence). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||
Hebrew | קוצר י" (helplessness, impotence), רפיון י"ים (discouragment, weakness). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||
Hungarian | tehetetlenség (helplessness, impotence, impotency, inability, inertia, inertness, paralysis). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||
Indonesian | tunakuasa. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||
Italian | impotenza (impotence, impotency, impuissance). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||
Japanese Kanji | 無力 (helplessness, incompetent). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||
Japanese Katakana | むりょく (helplessness, incompetent). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||
Manx | neuchummaght. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||
Pig Latin | owerlessnesspay vlagã (force, kick, pith, punch, sap, tone), lipsã de putere. (various references) vanmakt (impotence, impotency). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||
Derivations | |
Words beginning with "powerlessness": powerlessnesses. (additional references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references). | |
| # of Phoneme Matches | Pronunciation | Word(s) rhyming with "powerlessness" (pronounced pou"erlusnus) |
| 6 | -l u s n u s | callousness, carelessness, helplessness, homelessness, hopelessness, joblessness, lawlessness, recklessness, restlessness, ruthlessness, selflessness, weightlessness. |
| 5 | -u s n u s | cautiousness, consciousness, contagiousness, contentiousness, disingenuousness, fractiousness, graciousness, nervousness, outrageousness, pompousness, rebelliousness, righteousness, seriousness, unconsciousness, viciousness. |
| 4 | -s n u s | closeness, hoarseness, niceness. |
| 3 | -n u s | abruptness, absoluteness, acuteness, aggressiveness, agribusiness, airworthiness, alertness, aloofness, alumnus, Anas, androgynous, anise, appropriateness, arbitrariness, assertiveness, astuteness, asynchronous, attentiveness, attractiveness, awareness, awfulness, awkwardness, backwardness, badness, bagginess, baldness, bearishness, bigness, bitterness, bituminous, blackness, blandness, bleakness, blindness, bluntness, boldness, bonus, boorishness, brashness, brightness, bullishness, business, calmness, casualness, cavernous, cheapness, chitinous, cleanliness, cleanness, cleverness, cloudiness, clumsiness, cockiness, cohesiveness, coldness, Colonus, combativeness, compactness, competitiveness, completeness, contrariness, Conus, coolness, correctness, coziness, craziness, creativeness, creditworthiness, creepiness, crispness, crookedness, cuteness, dampness, darkness, Deaconess, deadliness, deafness, decisiveness, defensiveness, destructiveness, directness, distinctiveness, divisiveness, dizziness, dreariness, drowsiness, drunkenness, dryness, dullness, eagerness, earnestness, edginess, effectiveness, elusiveness, emptiness, evenness, exogenous, eyewitness, faintness, fairness, farsightedness, fastness, fickleness, firmness, fitness, flatness, fondness, foolishness, forcefulness, forgiveness, forthrightness, foulness, frankness, freshness, friendliness, frothiness, fullness, funniness, furnace, gauntness, gayness, gelatinous, gentleness, genuineness, genus, ghastliness, gluttonous, goodness, governess, greatness, greenness, grimness, hairiness, handedness, happiness, hardness, harmfulness, harness, harshness, heinous, highness, holiness, homesickness, homogenous, hopefulness, humanness, idleness, illness, inclusiveness, indebtedness, indecisiveness, indigenous, ineffectiveness, ineptness, inertness, intravenous, intrusiveness, inventiveness, Johannes, kindness, larcenous, largeness, lateness, laziness, lenis, lightfastness, lightness, likeness, liveliness, loneliness, lousiness, luminous, madness, Manus, meanness, membranous, menace, Minas, mindedness, minus, monotonous, mountainous, mutinous, narrowness, nastiness, nearsightedness, neatness, newness, niggardliness, nitrogenous, nonbusiness, nonpoisonous, nosiness, nothingness, numbness, ominous, oneness, onus, openness, orderliness, otherness, outspokenness, pandanus, peacefulness, penis, permissiveness, persuasiveness, pervasiveness, pettiness, playfulness, poisonous, politeness, polygynous, possessiveness, preparedness, queasiness, quickness, quietness, raciness, randomness, rareness, ravenous, rawness, readiness, reasonableness, redness, remoteness, resistiveness, resourcefulness, responsiveness, restiveness, restrictiveness, richness, rightness, riskiness, robustness, roominess, roughness, rowdiness, rudeness, ruinous, sacredness, sadness, Salinas, sameness, scantiness, secretiveness, selfishness, sensitiveness, separateness, shakiness, shallowness, sharpness, shortness, shortsightedness, shrewdness, shyness, sickness, silliness, sinus, skittishness, slackness, sleepiness, sloppiness, slovenliness, slowness, sluggishness, slyness, smallness, smoothness, smugness, softness, solitariness, soundness, spiritedness, squeamishness, starkness, steadfastness, steadiness, steepness, sternness, stiffness, stillness, stinginess, stoutness, strangeness, stubbornness, sturdiness, suddenness, suggestiveness, sweetness, swiftness, tardiness, tartness, tastiness, tenderness, tetanus, thickness, thinness, thoroughness, thoughtfulness, tightness, timeliness, tiredness, togetherness, toughness, trustworthiness, truthfulness, ugliness, uneasiness, unfairness, unhappiness, uniqueness, unpleasantness, unwieldiness, unwillingness, usefulness, vagueness, vastness, venous, villainous, vindictiveness, vividness, voluminous, wariness, wastefulness, waterishness, weakness, weariness, weirdness, wellness, wetness, whiteness, wholeness, wholesomeness, wickedness, wilderness, wildness, willingness, wimpiness, wistfulness, witness, wonderfulness, worldliness, worthiness, wryness. |
Source: compiled by the editor (additional references); see credits. | ||
Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams | |
| Words within the letters "e-e-e-l-n-o-p-r-s-s-s-s-w" | |
-3 letters: slownesses, solenesses, sorenesses. | |
-4 letters: espressos, lownesses, newsreels, powerless, prowesses, repossess, responses, senseless, woenesses. | |
-5 letters: espresso, newsless, newsreel, noseless, peerless, plessors, response, sleepers, slowness, snowless, soleness, soreness, sweepers. | |
| Words containing the letters "e-e-e-l-n-o-p-r-s-s-s-s-w" | |
+2 letters: powerlessnesses. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro. | |
Hexadecimal (or equivalents, 770AD-1900s) (references)50 6F 77 65 72 6C 65 73 73 6E 65 73 73 |
| Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519; backwards) (references)
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| American Sign Language (origins from 1620-1817 in Italy and, especially, France) (references)
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| Semaphore (1791, in France) (references)
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| Braille (1829, in France) (references)
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Morse Code (1836) (references).--. --- .--. . .-. .-.. . ... ... -. . ... ... |
| Dancing Men (Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, 1903) (references)
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Binary Code (1918-1938, probably earlier) (references)01010000 01101111 01110111 01100101 01110010 01101100 01100101 01110011 01110011 01101110 01100101 01110011 01110011 |
HTML Code (1990) (references)P o w e r l e s s n e s s |
ISO 10646 (1991-1993) (references)0050 006F 0077 0065 0072 006C 0065 0073 0073 006E 0065 0073 0073 |
| British Sign Language (Fingerspelling, BSL; 1992, British Deaf Association Dictionary of British Sign Language) (references)
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Encryption (beginner's substitution cypher): (references)50818971847871858580718585 |
| 1. Definition 2. Synonyms 3. Crosswords 4. Usage: Commercial | 5. Quotations: Fiction 6. Quotations: Non-fiction 7. Usage Frequency 8. Expressions: Internet | 9. Translations: Modern 10. Derivations 11. Rhymes 12. Anagrams | 13. Orthography 14. Bibliography |
Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
