inability
- 01 C1 Advanced
the fact that you cannot do something because the situation or the law prevents you.
the state of being prevented from acting due to external circumstances, legal constraints, or lack of authority.
Simple“The manager expressed his inability to change the company policy.”
In context“The department's inability to provide the requested documents was cited as a primary reason for the delay in the judicial review.”
Synonymspowerlessnesshelplessness
“The key, I believe, is teaching students to distinguish AI’s pattern recognition skills from its inability to daydream, inhabit human perspectives and authentically express itself.”
“The Romanovs’ photo albums humanize a family that fiercely protected their privacy at the cost of intense criticism over their perceived insularity and inability to relate to everyday Russians.”
From earlier inhability (“disqualification for office”), equivalent to in- + ability. Compare Middle French inhabilité, Medieval Latin inhabilitās.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.