Word · Frequency #19896
powerlessness
无力；无能为力；衰弱
the quality of lacking strength or power; being weak and feeble
常作不可数名词，指由于缺乏力量或影响力而无法行动或改变现状的状态。
- 1.
The state or character of being powerless; absence or lack of power.
无力
无力；无能为力
In use
After the accident, she was overwhelmed by a feeling of powerlessness.
He couldn't hide his powerlessness when the computer crashed again.
The villagers complained about their powerlessness to stop the factory from dumping waste into the river.
a sense of powerlessness
Many people experience a sense of powerlessness in the face of bureaucracy.
许多人在面对官僚体制时感到一种无力感。
powerlessness to do sth
表示‘无力做某事’。
His powerlessness to change the situation frustrated him.
他无力改变现状，这让他感到沮丧。
feel powerlessness
feel后通常接抽象名词表示感受。
She felt a deep powerlessness when her efforts failed.
当她的努力失败时，她深感无力。
powerlessness over sth
over表示在某个方面无能为力。
They expressed their powerlessness over the decision.
他们表示对这个决定无能为力。
Common mistakes
I feel a sense of powerless.I feel a sense of powerlessness.
powerless 是形容词，而介词短语 'a sense of' 后面需要接名词。应使用名词 powerlessness。
He experienced many powerlessnesses in his life.He experienced much powerlessness in his life.
powerlessness 是不可数名词，不能用复数形式。应将 many powerlessnesses 改为 much powerlessness。
Connections
Collocations
- sense of powerlessness
- 无能为力的感觉
- He couldn't shake the sense of powerlessness that followed his failure.他无法摆脱失败后那种无能为力的感觉。
- political powerlessness
- 政治上的无权地位
- Their political powerlessness left them unable to influence local policy.他们在政治上的无权地位使他们无法影响地方政策。
- utter powerlessness
- 彻底的无力感
- She felt utter powerlessness when her visa application was rejected.当签证申请被拒时，她感到彻底的无力感。
- powerlessness to act
- 无力采取行动
- His powerlessness to act in the emergency only increased his frustration.他在紧急情况下无力采取行动，这只会让他更加沮丧。
- powerlessness in the face of adversity
- 面对逆境时的无能为力
- He wrote about human powerlessness in the face of adversity.
Learner notes
Memory Tip
记 power（力量）被 less（少）吞噬，加上 ness，眼前出现“力量耗尽、无能为力”的画面。
Context & Register
语域：neutral 常见场景：日常谈话、报刊评论、正式文章 该词为中性表达，口语与书面语中均可使用；通常多用于描述个人或群体在政治、社会、心理等情境中的无力感。
Pronunciation & Spelling
None of these words rhymes with powerlessness; they share the spelling pattern -lessness but have different stressed vowels (e.g., /paʊ/ vs /hɛl/, /hoʊm/, /rɛst/, /miːnɪŋ/, /lɪst/, /θɔːt/). The unstressed suffix /ləs nəs/ does sound the same.
Learn the forms together
页面下方列出了常见词形变化。学习时注意它们在句子中的语法位置。
Dictionary facts from ECDICT, WIKTIONARY.