unable

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ʌnˈeɪbəl/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -eɪbəl

Etymology 1

From Middle English unable, unabel, unhable, unhabil, equivalent to un- +‎ able.

Adjective

unable (comparative unabler or more unable, superlative unablest or most unable)

1. Not able; lacking a certain ability.

   Are you unable to mind your own business or something?

   • 2011 December 21, Tom Rostance, “Fulham 0-5 Man Utd”, in BBC Sport:

     Fulham switched off as Giggs took a quick corner to Valencia. He played it back to Giggs, whose cross was headed in by Nani with the lurking Rooney unable to add a touch.

   • 2013 June 28, Joris Luyendijk, “Our banks are out of control”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 189, number 3, page 21:

     Seeing the British establishment struggle with the financial sector is like watching an alcoholic […].  Until 2008 there was denial over what finance had become. […]  But the scandals kept coming, […]. A broad section of the political class now recognises the need for change but remains unable to see the necessity of a fundamental overhaul.

   • 2022 January 12, “Network News: Trading of Go-Ahead Group shares halted”, in RAIL, number 948, page 7:

     The train operating company owning group warned in early December that it was unable to publish its results for the year to July 3 2021, following an investigation into the running of Southeastern, which was stripped of its franchise in October [...].

Antonyms

• able

Derived terms

• be unable to believe one's eyes
• unable to can

 

Related terms

• inability

 

Translations

not able

• Arabic: عَاجِز (ʕājiz)
• Bulgarian: неспосо́бен (bg) (nesposóben)
• Catalan: incapaç (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: (different words for "able" - see entries) 不能 (bù néng), 不能夠, 不能够 (bù nénggòu), 不会 (bù huì), 不可以 (bù kěyǐ)

• Czech: neschopný (cs)
• Dutch: niet in staat, onbekwaam (nl)
• Esperanto: senpova, nekapabla
• Finnish: kykenemätön (fi), kyvytön (fi)
• French: incapable (fr)
• Georgian: შეუძლებელი (šeuʒlebeli), უძლური (uʒluri)
• German: unfähig (de), außerstanden
• Greek: ανίκανος (el) (aníkanos)
• Ido: nekapabla (io)
• Italian: incapace (it)
• Maori: tē taea
• Portuguese: incapaz (pt)
• Romanian: incapabil (ro), neputincios (ro), incompetent (ro)
• Russian: неспосо́бный (ru) (nesposóbnyj)
• Spanish: incapaz (es), impotente (es)
• Swedish: oförmögen (sv)

Interjection

unable

1. (aviation) Indicating that a requested course of action is not possible to carry out.

   "November three seven kilo, climb and maintain twelve thousand." "Unable, we have pressurization problems. Maintaining nine thousand."

Etymology 2

From Middle English unablen, equivalent to un- +‎ able.

Verb

unable (third-person singular simple present unables, present participle unabling, simple past and past participle unabled)

1. (transitive, nonstandard) To render unable; to disable.

Anagrams

• Buelna, Nabeul, nebula, unbale