Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- adj. Lacking the necessary power, authority, or means; not able; incapable: unable to get to town without a car.
- adj. Lacking mental or physical capability or efficiency; incompetent: unable to walk.
- adj. Usage Problem Not susceptible to action or treatment: a project unable to be financed with government funds. See Usage Note at able.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
Wiktionary
GNU Webster's 1913
- adj. Not able; not having sufficient strength, means, knowledge, skill, or the like; impotent; weak; helpless; incapable; -- now usually followed by an infinitive or an adverbial phrase.
WordNet 3.0
- adj. (usually followed by `to') not having the necessary means or skill or know-how
- adj. lacking in power or forcefulness
- adj. (usually followed by `to') lacking necessary physical or mental ability
Etymologies
- un- + able (Wiktionary)
Examples
“How it can be argued that the Met (or IPCC) did nothing Nicola FISHER, to get specific about just ONE example, when the sergeants who struck her was suspended and criminally prosecuted, I remain unable to explain.”
Police Complaints – The Shocking Truth! « POLICE INSPECTOR BLOG
“I graduated early and spent the next two years as a shut-in unable to go outside without feeling as if people only saw the color of my skin.”
The Huffington Post: Russell Bishop: Can Comedians Really Lead Us to Sanity and Civility?
“Very often the way the twins are joined is terribly difficult: at the top of the head, sharing organs, or with one twin unable to function because of their relationship to the other child.”
“Even though many find their practices distasteful, they remain unable to substitute normal sexual behavior for them.”
“Obama is such a diehard Sox fan on national TV he could not name one, is that worse than Pailin unable to mention a magazine she reads?”
““Intolerant: unable or unwilling to endure,” as in unable or unwilling to endure the thought that there might possibly be an episode of a show that is better than an episode of Lost.”
“Although it is a readable and stimulating piece (as it would be if Bryan wrote about paint drying), I remain unable to "get" popular culture.”
“Min still sat cross-legged on the bed in her snug green silk breeches, by her expression unable to decide between approval and frustration.”
“As a result, you have a distorted picture of a Britain unable to meet her liabilities, indulging in extravagances, like Health Insurance, Social Services, and all that kind of thing. ”
“General > International (whatever these might be in German -- unable to help there).”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘unable’.
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Interesting words
A list of words that are odd or words that I have looked up.
concupiscence, brize, scree, scoria, forestaff, spanaemia, valetudinarianism, distasture, pyrethrum, laudanum, gentian, bicameral and 11184 more...
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broken
unable, to, complete, request, sorry, something, has, gone, terribly, wrong, When, the and 35 more...
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Basic English Vocabulary
Very basic words for ESL students.
a, abandon, ability, able, abortion, about, above, abroad, absence, absolute, absolutely, absorb and 4334 more...
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Cage
cage, depart, nothing, void, strain, unconscious, never, alone, floor, God, hell, winter and 219 more...
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feeling words
twitterpated, loquacious, ambiguous, pensive, sluggish, anxious, adventurous, curious, abandoned, absent-minded, abrasive, abused and 653 more...
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Inner B
Words with the letter b within the word, not just as the initial or last letter.
remember, maybe, able, unable, nimble, cable, reusable, thimble, cymbal, capable, tremble, enable and 143 more...
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my dictionary
able, abnormally, abroad, absent, abstract, acceptable, acceptance, access, accessible, accession, according to, account and 4551 more...
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The things they carried (List 2)
Listening to this as an audio book for the second time. Tim O'Brien uses simple words and phrases to great effect. Very few unfamilar and big words . The writing style reminds me of words from Joh...
The, Things, They, Carried, meant, fond, By necessity,, presented to him, far beyond, against the brick..., reaching, taut and 2940 more...
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Oxford 3000
Oxford 3000 is a list of the most common 3000 words in the English language publishe by OUP.
The keywords of the Oxford 3000 have been carefully selected by a group of language experts and ex...a, an, abandon, abandoned, ability, able, unable, about, above, abroad, absence, absent, absolute and 65 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for unable.
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