| Library / English Dictionary |
UNABLE
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
I. (adjective)
Sense 1
Meaning:
(usually followed by 'to') not having the necessary means or skill or know-how
Example:
unable to obtain funds
Classified under:
Attribute:
ability (the quality of being able to perform; a quality that permits or facilitates achievement or accomplishment)
Antonym:
able ((usually followed by 'to') having the necessary means or skill or know-how or authority to do something)
Sense 2
Meaning:
(usually followed by 'to') lacking necessary physical or mental ability
Example:
the sun was unable to melt enough snow
Classified under:
Similar:
incapable ((followed by 'of') lacking capacity or ability)
Sense 3
Meaning:
Lacking in power or forcefulness
Example:
like an unable phoenix in hot ashes
Synonyms:
ineffective; ineffectual; unable
Classified under:
Adjectives
Similar:
impotent (lacking power or ability)
Context examples:
Using a drawn representation of the body, patients who are unable to speak mark areas where they feel pain.
(Pain Map, NCI Thesaurus)
Some people are born unable to make enough cortisol.
(Adrenal Gland Disorders, NIH: National Institute of Child Health and Human Development)
However, in neurodegenerative diseases this mechanism is impaired and unable to clear the proteins building up in the brain.
(Blood pressure drug shows promise for treating Parkinson’s and dementia in animal studies, University of Cambridge)
Doctors usually are unable to diagnose cancer of the pancreas until it is too late.
(New Test May Detect Pancreatic Cancer Early, VOA News)
It is a reflection I am unable to dismiss, and it sometimes makes me very uneasy.
(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)
You would not think so to look at him, but he was quite unable to stand alone at first.
(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)
They were unable to move the sled.
(The Call of the Wild, by Jack London)
They were unable to classify it, and, being scientific men, they climbed into the whale-boat alongside and went ashore to see.
(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)
I have no doubt that I am very stupid, but I must confess that I am unable to follow you.
(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
At first he was unable to drag himself along, and Beauty Smith had to wait half-an-hour for him.
(White Fang, by Jack London)
