Definitions for inability
ˌɪn əˈbɪl ɪ tiin·abil·i·ty

Princeton's WordNetRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. inabilitynoun

   lack of ability (especially mental ability) to do something

2. inability, unfitnessnoun

   lacking the power to perform

WiktionaryRate this definition:4.0 / 1 vote

1. inabilitynoun

   lack of the ability to do something; incapability

Samuel Johnson's DictionaryRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. Inabilitynoun

   Impuissance; impotence; want of power.

   Etymology: in and ability.

   If no natural nor casual inability cross their desires, they always delighting to inure themselves with actions most beneficial to others, cannot but gather great experience, and thro' experience the more wisdom. Richard Hooker.

   Neither ignorance nor inability can be pretended; and what plea can we offer to divine justice to prevent condemnation? John Rogers.

WikipediaRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. inability

   Abilities are powers an agent has to perform various actions. They include common abilities, like walking, and rare abilities, like performing a double backflip. Abilities are intelligent powers: they are guided by the person's intention and executing them successfully results in an action, which is not true for all types of powers. They are closely related to but not identical with various other concepts, such as disposition, know-how, aptitude, talent, potential, and skill. Theories of ability aim to articulate the nature of abilities. Traditionally, the conditional analysis has been the most popular approach. According to it, having an ability means one would perform the action in question if one tried to do so. On this view, Michael Phelps has the ability to swim 200 meters in under 2 minutes because he would do so if he tried to. This approach has been criticized in various ways. Some counterexamples involve cases in which the agent is physically able to do something but unable to try, due to a strong aversion. In order to avoid these and other counterexamples, various alternative approaches have been suggested. Modal theories of ability, for example, focus on what is possible for the agent to do. Other suggestions include defining abilities in terms of dispositions and potentials. An important distinction among abilities is between general abilities and specific abilities. General abilities are abilities possessed by an agent independent of their situation while specific abilities concern what an agent can do in a specific situation. So while an expert piano player always has the general ability to play various piano pieces, they lack the corresponding specific ability in a situation where no piano is present. Another distinction concerns the question of whether successfully performing an action by accident counts as having the corresponding ability. In this sense, an amateur hacker may have the effective ability to hack his boss's email account, because they may be lucky and guess the password correctly, but not the corresponding transparent ability, since they are unable to reliably do so. The concept of abilities and how they are to be understood is relevant for various related fields. Free will, for example, is often understood as the ability to do otherwise. The debate between compatibilism and incompatibilism concerns the question whether this ability can exist in a world governed by deterministic laws of nature. Autonomy is a closely related concept, which can be defined as the ability of individual or collective agents to govern themselves. Whether an agent has the ability to perform a certain action is important for whether they have a moral obligation to perform this action. If they possess it, they may be morally responsible for performing it or for failing to do so. Like in the free will debate, it is also relevant whether they had the ability to do otherwise. A prominent theory of concepts and concept possession understands these terms in relation to abilities. According to it, it is required that the agent possess both the ability to discriminate between positive and negative cases and the ability to draw inferences to related concepts.

ChatGPTRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. inability

   Inability is the state of being unable to do something or the lack of physical or mental capacity or competence to perform a specific task, action or function. It refers to not having the required skills, knowledge, strength, or similar trait necessary for a particular action.

Webster DictionaryRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. Inabilitynoun

   the quality or state of being unable; lack of ability; want of sufficient power, strength, resources, or capacity

Chambers 20th Century DictionaryRate this definition:1.0 / 1 vote

1. Inability

   in-a-bil′i-ti, n. want of sufficient power: incapacity.

Matched Categories

1. • Cognition
   • Quality

British National Corpus

1. Nouns Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'inability' in Nouns Frequency: #2836

How to pronounce inability?

1. Alex

   US English

   David

   US English

   Mark

   US English

   Daniel

   British

   Libby

   British

   Mia

   British

   Karen

   Australian

   Hayley

   Australian

   Natasha

   Australian

   Veena

   Indian

   Priya

   Indian

   Neerja

   Indian

   Zira

   US English

   Oliver

   British

   Wendy

   British

   Fred

   US English

   Tessa

   South African

How to say inability in sign language?

Numerology

1. Chaldean Numerology

   The numerical value of inability in Chaldean Numerology is: 1

2. Pythagorean Numerology

   The numerical value of inability in Pythagorean Numerology is: 2

Examples of inability in a Sentence

1. Chancellor Kelli Brown:

   Justifiable calls for action can be heard from across our campus community today. Rest assured, the University is taking active steps to address these particular incidents consistent with our University processes and policies ; however, we can not disclose specific actions taken against a specific student( s). With that in mind, our inability to communicate specific actions should not be construed as inaction. Western Carolina University takes seriously the effect that these videos have had on the campus community and will act accordingly.

2. Nicholas Rolnick via email:

   Major problems in the rehabilitation setting are the inability for patients to effectively strength train due to an injury or post-surgical precautions as well as pain, the growth of BFR training allows those individuals who would be unable to challenge their bodies under normal circumstances a chance to build more strength and muscle mass during times where it would be near impossible.

3. Jean Baptiste Rousseau:

   Readiness of speech is often inability to hold the tongue.

4. Madison Cawthorn:

   Joe Biden’s physical inability to lead is not a political talking point – it’s a demonstrable fact, president Biden is not mentally fit to serve as president of the United States.

5. Cornelius Katona:

   Consideration also needs to be given to the challenges that asylum seekers face during what is often a prolonged and distressing process, these factors may include institutional detention, inability to work (and resultant deskilling and loss of self esteem), destitution and difficulty in accessing health and social care.

Popularity rank by frequency of use

References

1. ^ Princeton's WordNet
   http://wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn?s=inability
2. ^ Wiktionary
   https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Inability
3. ^ Samuel Johnson's Dictionary
   https://johnsonsdictionaryonline.com/views/search.php?term=inability
4. ^ Wikipedia
   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inability
5. ^ ChatGPT
   https://chat.openai.com
6. ^ Webster Dictionary
   https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/inability
7. ^ Chambers 20th Century Dictionary
   https://www.gutenberg.org/files/37683/37683-h/37683-h.htm#:~:text=inability