helplessness

plural helplessnesses

1. uncountableusuallyThe state of being helpless.

   Near-synonyms: powerlessness, impotence

   2 more examples

   From the most ancient times to the present, in the crudest primitive tribe or the most magnificently ornamented civilization, man has found himself in a state of awed helplessness when confronted by the phenomena of strange illnesses or aberrations.

   1950, L. Ron Hubbard, Dianetics, New Era Publications, published 1999, →ISBN, →OCLC, page 10

   ADAM: 'You are faced with overwhelming power. Accept your helplessness.'

   2021 October 8, Metroid Dread, Nintendo, Nintendo Switch, scene: Adam Briefing, level/area: Cataris

   Synonyms: powerlessness, impotence

2. uncountableusuallyA feeling of inadequacy or impotence.

   Captain Edward Carlisle, soldier as he was, martinet as he was, felt a curious sensation of helplessness seize upon him as he met her steady gaze, her alluring smile ; he could not tell what this prisoner might do.

   1910, Emerson Hough, chapter I, in The Purchase Price: Or The Cause of Compromise, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC