This week we continue our vocabulary-building series, “The Closing Word.” Each week we provide a new word to help build your vocabulary and show you an example of how to use it.
This week’s closing word:
impuissance
Pronounced: (im-PYOO-ih-since, im-PWIH-since, ahm-PWEE-saunce)
Noun:
powerlessness revealed by an inability to act
From Vocabulary.com: “When faced with a situation when you need to act, sometimes you freeze. That feeling is called impuissance, when you’re unable to make a move because you feel like you have no power. Bless the French, because they came up with a single word that means exactly that: impuissance. It literally means “not powerful,” and feeling powerless is the key ingredient in impuissance. It’s tricky to pronounce, but imagine you’re in France and try it this way: im-PWIS-since. You’ll feel more powerful in no time.”
Example:
“With all-cash, multiple-bid situations eating up inventory, the first-time buyer felt a profound sense of impuissance, and ended up renting for longer than they wished.”
