as in inability
the lack of sufficient ability, power, or means
her entrenched incapacity for decision-making doesn't make her a very good boss
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Recent Examples of incapacity
As the world becomes ever more complex, apparently the list of individual incapacities has grown.
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Jim Nowlan, Mercury News, 23 Oct. 2025
The executives have chuckled at the team’s seeming complacency and incapacity for change, which culminated in a 43-119 record in 2025, a finish that put the club on par with the 2024 Chicago White Sox and 1962 New York Mets in terms of futility.
—Andy McCullough, New York Times, 1 Oct. 2025
That spirit manages to survive a patently modern star turn from Mark Wahlberg, whose incapacity for nuance and self-reflection is well-served by a role that has little interest in either.
—David Ehrlich, IndieWire, 30 Sep. 2025
The amendment’s most glaring weakness lies in Section 4, which addresses presidential incapacity when the president cannot or will not acknowledge their disability.
—Lynn Schmidt, Twin Cities, 19 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for incapacity
Recent Examples of Synonyms for incapacity
inability
Noun
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Russia and China, though chastened by their inability to protect Venezuela, retain a strong interest in propping up Havana, given Cuba’s location just 90 miles south of Key West.—
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Forster’s novel may have been written in 1913 (and published, posthumously, in 1971), but its portrayal of Alec and Maurice’s inability to openly articulate their love remains evergreen.—
Cite this Entry
“Incapacity.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/incapacity. Accessed 13 Jan. 2026.
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