impotent

English

Etymology

From Old French impotent, from Latin impotēns, from in- (expresses negation) + potēns (“powerful”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɪm.pə.tənt/, /ˈɪm.pə.tɪnt/

  • Audio (Southern England):

    (file)

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• (Indic) IPA^(key): /ɪmˈpoʈəɳʈ/, /ˈɪmpɵʈəɳʈ/

Adjective

impotent (comparative more impotent, superlative most impotent)

1. Lacking physical strength or vigor; weak

   Synonyms: feeble, puny, weak

2. Lacking in power, as to act effectively; helpless

   Synonyms: helpless, powerless

   • 1984, Freeman J. Dyson, Weapons and Hope:

     Technology without morality is barbarous; morality without technology is impotent

3. Incapable of sexual intercourse, often because of an inability to achieve or sustain an erection, having impotentia coeundi.
   • 1961, Harry E. Wedeck, Dictionary of Aphrodisiacs, New York: The Citadel Press, page 158:

     A person smeared with the excrement of a mouse was rendered impotent, according to Pliny the Elder.

4. (of a male) Sterile
5. (obsolete) Lacking self-restraint

   Synonym: incontinent

   • a. 1701 (date written), John Dryden, “The First Book of Homer’s Ilias”, in The Miscellaneous Works of John Dryden, […], volume IV, London: […] J[acob] and R[ichard] Tonson, […], published 1760, →OCLC, page 444:

     Then, impotent of tongue (her ſilence broke) / Thus turbulent in rattling tone ſhe ſpoke.

Antonyms

• potent

Derived terms

• impotently
• impotentness
• nonimpotent
• self-impotent

Related terms

• impotence

Translations

lacking physical strength or vigor; weak

Bulgarian: слаб (bg) (slab), безсилен (bg) (bezsilen) Catalan: impotent (ca) Esperanto: senpova French: impuissant (fr) m Hindi: नामर्द (hi) m (nāmard), नपुंसक (hi) m (napunsak) Italian: debole (it) Russian: бесси́льный (ru) (bessílʹnyj), сла́бый (ru) (slábyj) Ukrainian: безси́лий (uk) (bezsýlyj), безси́льний (uk) (bezsýlʹnyj)

lacking in power, as to act effectively; helpless

Bulgarian: безпомощен (bg) (bezpomošten) Catalan: impotent (ca) Esperanto: senpova Hindi: नामर्द (hi) m (nāmard), नपुंसक (hi) m (napunsak) Italian: impotente (it) Russian: бесси́льный (ru) (bessílʹnyj), сла́бый (ru) (slábyj), беспо́мощный (ru) (bespómoščnyj) Ukrainian: безси́лий (uk) (bezsýlyj), безси́льний (uk) (bezsýlʹnyj)

incapable of sexual intercourse

Bikol Central: bawas Bulgarian: импотентен (impotenten) Catalan: impotent (ca) Chinese: Mandarin: 不舉 / 不举 (zh) (bùjǔ), 不行 (zh) (bùxíng) Czech: impotentní (cs) Dutch: impotent (nl) Esperanto: impotenta German: impotent (de) Greek: Ancient: ἄστυτος (ástutos) Hindi: नामर्द (hi) m (nāmard), नपुंसक (hi) m (napunsak) Italian: impotente (it) Russian: импоте́нтный (ru) (impoténtnyj), страда́ющий импотенцией (stradájuščij impotencijej) Swedish: impotent (sv) Tagalog: limawon Ukrainian: імпоте́нтний (impoténtnyj)

sterile

Bulgarian: импотентен (impotenten) Catalan: impotent (ca) Hindi: नामर्द (hi) m (nāmard), नपुंसक (hi) m (napunsak) Russian: стери́льный (ru) (sterílʹnyj)

Noun

impotent (plural impotents)

1. A man who has erectile dysfunction

   Synonym: wet noodle

   Antonym: priapist

2. An impotent or powerless person

Catalan

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin impotentem.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central) [im.puˈten]
• IPA^(key): (Balearic, Valencia) [im.poˈtent]

• Audio (Barcelona):

  (file)

Adjective

impotent m or f (masculine and feminine plural impotents)

1. (medicine) impotent
2. impotent, powerless, helpless

Further reading

• “impotent”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], April 2007

Dutch

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin impotens.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɪm.poːˈtɛnt/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: im‧po‧tent
• Rhymes: -ɛnt

Adjective

impotent (not comparable)

1. impotent (lacking force or vigor)

   Synonym: krachteloos

   Antonyms: potent, krachtig

2. (sexuality, of males) impotent (sexually incapable)

   Antonyms: potent, vruchtbaar

   Hypernyms: steriel, onvruchtbaar

Declension

Declension of impotent
uninflected	impotent
inflected	impotente
comparative	—
		positive
predicative/adverbial		impotent
indefinite	m./f. sing.	impotente
	n. sing.	impotent
	plural	impotente
definite		impotente
partitive		impotents

Derived terms

• impotentheid

Related terms

• impotentie

French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɛ̃.pɔ.tɑ̃/
• Homophone: impotents

Adjective

impotent (feminine impotente, masculine plural impotents, feminine plural impotentes)

1. infirm, disabled
2. impotent

Further reading

• “impotent”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

German

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɪmpotɛnt/

• Audio (Germany (Berlin)):

  (file)

Adjective

impotent (strong nominative masculine singular impotenter, comparative impotenter, superlative am impotentesten)

1. impotent

   Antonym: potent

Declension

Positive forms of impotent

number & gender		singular			plural
		masculine	feminine	neuter
predicative		er ist impotent	sie ist impotent	es ist impotent	sie sind impotent
strong declension (without article)	nominative	impotenter	impotente	impotentes	impotente
	genitive	impotenten	impotenter	impotenten	impotenter
	dative	impotentem	impotenter	impotentem	impotenten
	accusative	impotenten	impotente	impotentes	impotente
weak declension (with definite article)	nominative	der impotente	die impotente	das impotente	die impotenten
	genitive	des impotenten	der impotenten	des impotenten	der impotenten
	dative	dem impotenten	der impotenten	dem impotenten	den impotenten
	accusative	den impotenten	die impotente	das impotente	die impotenten
mixed declension (with indefinite article)	nominative	ein impotenter	eine impotente	ein impotentes	(keine) impotenten
	genitive	eines impotenten	einer impotenten	eines impotenten	(keiner) impotenten
	dative	einem impotenten	einer impotenten	einem impotenten	(keinen) impotenten
	accusative	einen impotenten	eine impotente	ein impotentes	(keine) impotenten

Comparative forms of impotent

number & gender		singular			plural
		masculine	feminine	neuter
predicative		er ist impotenter	sie ist impotenter	es ist impotenter	sie sind impotenter
strong declension (without article)	nominative	impotenterer	impotentere	impotenteres	impotentere
	genitive	impotenteren	impotenterer	impotenteren	impotenterer
	dative	impotenterem	impotenterer	impotenterem	impotenteren
	accusative	impotenteren	impotentere	impotenteres	impotentere
weak declension (with definite article)	nominative	der impotentere	die impotentere	das impotentere	die impotenteren
	genitive	des impotenteren	der impotenteren	des impotenteren	der impotenteren
	dative	dem impotenteren	der impotenteren	dem impotenteren	den impotenteren
	accusative	den impotenteren	die impotentere	das impotentere	die impotenteren
mixed declension (with indefinite article)	nominative	ein impotenterer	eine impotentere	ein impotenteres	(keine) impotenteren
	genitive	eines impotenteren	einer impotenteren	eines impotenteren	(keiner) impotenteren
	dative	einem impotenteren	einer impotenteren	einem impotenteren	(keinen) impotenteren
	accusative	einen impotenteren	eine impotentere	ein impotenteres	(keine) impotenteren

Superlative forms of impotent

number & gender		singular			plural
		masculine	feminine	neuter
predicative		er ist am impotentesten	sie ist am impotentesten	es ist am impotentesten	sie sind am impotentesten
strong declension (without article)	nominative	impotentester	impotenteste	impotentestes	impotenteste
	genitive	impotentesten	impotentester	impotentesten	impotentester
	dative	impotentestem	impotentester	impotentestem	impotentesten
	accusative	impotentesten	impotenteste	impotentestes	impotenteste
weak declension (with definite article)	nominative	der impotenteste	die impotenteste	das impotenteste	die impotentesten
	genitive	des impotentesten	der impotentesten	des impotentesten	der impotentesten
	dative	dem impotentesten	der impotentesten	dem impotentesten	den impotentesten
	accusative	den impotentesten	die impotenteste	das impotenteste	die impotentesten
mixed declension (with indefinite article)	nominative	ein impotentester	eine impotenteste	ein impotentestes	(keine) impotentesten
	genitive	eines impotentesten	einer impotentesten	eines impotentesten	(keiner) impotentesten
	dative	einem impotentesten	einer impotentesten	einem impotentesten	(keinen) impotentesten
	accusative	einen impotentesten	eine impotenteste	ein impotentestes	(keine) impotentesten

Further reading

• “impotent” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache
• “impotent” in Uni Leipzig: Wortschatz-Lexikon

Middle French

Adjective

impotent m (feminine singular impotente, masculine plural impotens, feminine plural impotentes)

1. impotent (incapable of sexual intercourse)

Polish

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin impotēns.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /imˈpɔ.tɛnt/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɔtɛnt
• Syllabification: im‧po‧tent

Noun

impotent m pers

1. (pathology) impotent (man who has erectile dysfunction)
2. (derogatory) impotent (person incapable of taking a particular type of action that the situation requires)

   Synonym: eunuch

Declension

Declension of impotent

	singular	plural
nominative	impotent	impotenci/impotenty (deprecative)
genitive	impotenta	impotentów
dative	impotentowi	impotentom
accusative	impotenta	impotentów
instrumental	impotentem	impotentami
locative	impotencie	impotentach
vocative	impotencie	impotenci

Related terms

noun

• impotencja

Further reading

• impotent in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• impotent in Polish dictionaries at PWN

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from French impotent, from Latin impotens.

Adjective

impotent m or n (feminine singular impotentă, masculine plural impotenți, feminine/neuter plural impotente)

1. impotent

Declension

Declension of impotent

		singular				plural
		masculine	neuter	feminine		masculine	neuter	feminine
nominative- accusative	indefinite	impotent		impotentă		impotenți	impotente
	definite	impotentul		impotenta		impotenții	impotentele
genitive- dative	indefinite	impotent		impotente		impotenți	impotente
	definite	impotentului		impotentei		impotenților	impotentelor

Further reading

• “impotent”, in DEX online—Dicționare ale limbii române (Dictionaries of the Romanian language) (in Romanian), 2004–2025

Swedish

Adjective

impotent (not comparable)

1. impotent (incapable of sexual intercourse due to being unable to get an erection or the like)

   Antonym: potent

2. impotent (powerless)

Declension

Inflection of impotent

Indefinite	positive	comparative	superlative1
common singular	impotent	—	—
neuter singular	impotent	—	—
plural	impotenta	—	—
masculine plural2	impotente	—	—
Definite	positive	comparative	superlative
masculine singular3	impotente	—	—
all	impotenta	—	—

¹ The indefinite superlative forms are only used in the predicative.
² Dated or archaic.
³ Only used, optionally, to refer to things whose natural gender is masculine.

Related terms

• impotens

References

• impotent in Svensk ordbok (SO)
• impotent in Svenska Akademiens ordbok (SAOB)