Unable
[ʌn'eɪb(ə)l] or [ʌn'ebl]
Definition
(adj.) (usually followed by `to') not having the necessary means or skill or know-how; 'unable to get to town without a car'; 'unable to obtain funds' .
(adj.) (usually followed by `to') lacking necessary physical or mental ability; 'dyslexics are unable to learn to read adequately'; 'the sun was unable to melt enough snow' .
Typist: Mason--From WordNet
Definition
(a.) 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; as, unable for work; unable to bear fatigue.
Inputed by Hahn
Synonyms and Synonymous
a. Incapable, incompetent, not able, impotent, powerless.
Editor: Rae
Definition
adj. not able: not having sufficient strength power or skill: weak: impotent.
Checked by Abram
Examples
- Poor Oliver tried to keep up with the coach a little way, but was unable to do it, by reason of his fatigue and sore feet. Charles Dickens. Oliver Twist.
- If they, too, proved unable to assist me, my resources for the present were at an end, and I might return to town. Wilkie Collins. The Woman in White.
- Unable to rest or sleep, she quitted her asylum early, that she might again endeavour to find my brother. Mary Shelley. Frankenstein_Or_The Modern Prometheus.
- General Scott had been unable to get clothing for the troops from the North. Ulysses S. Grant. Personal Memoirs of U. S. Grant.
- Whether Mr. Murdstone knew where I was, I am unable to say. Charles Dickens. David Copperfield.
- Brian de Bois-Guilbert rolled on the field, encumbered with the stirrup, from which he was unable to draw his foot. Walter Scott. Ivanhoe.
- It is needless to say that I was quite unable to afford him the information he wanted. Wilkie Collins. The Moonstone.
- Fear overcame me; I dared not advance, dreading a thousand nameless evils that made me tremble, although I was unable to define them. Mary Shelley. Frankenstein_Or_The Modern Prometheus.
- In one circumstance only even the entreaties of Rebecca were unable to secure sufficient attention to the accommodation of the wounded knight. Walter Scott. Ivanhoe.
- Mr. Mivart has advanced this case as one of special difficulty, but I am unable to see the force of his argument. Charles Darwin. On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection.
- She was audaciously prejudiced in my favour, and quite unable to understand why I should have any misgivings, or be low-spirited about it. Charles Dickens. David Copperfield.
- During the day General Meade's advance had considerable fighting with the enemy's rear-guard, but was unable to bring on a general engagement. Ulysses S. Grant. Personal Memoirs of U. S. Grant.
- My left arm, though it presented no bad symptoms, took, in the natural course, so long to heal that I was still unable to get a coat on. Charles Dickens. Great Expectations.
- These questions continually recurred, but I was unable to solve them. Mary Shelley. Frankenstein_Or_The Modern Prometheus.
- I was then taken to Vicksburg, where I remained unable to move for some time afterwards. Ulysses S. Grant. Personal Memoirs of U. S. Grant.
- Now make haste,' said Mr. Wardle; for the fat boy was hanging fondly over a capon, which he seemed wholly unable to part with. Charles Dickens. The Pickwick Papers.
- I was myself consulted upon the case, but I was unable to throw any light upon it. Arthur Conan Doyle. The Return of Sherlock Holmes.
- My greatest danger would lie in her consulting Mrs. Fraser, and I at a distance unable to help my own cause. Jane Austen. Mansfield Park.
- Maurice, replied Mrs Dengelton severely, unable to parry this attack, remember your cousin is in the room. Fergus Hume. The Island of Fantasy.
- That worthy lady being unable to obtain one, and being steadfastly denied admission, Mr Meagles besought Arthur to essay once more what he could do. Charles Dickens. Little Dorrit.
- I was unable to speak to him, I was unable to resist him when he took my arm. Wilkie Collins. The Woman in White.
- The wind, favourable to him, blew so strongly in shore, that we were unable, as we had at first intended, to meet him on his watery road. Mary Shelley. The Last Man.
- I read these words over and over again: I felt that an explanation belonged to them, and was unable fully to penetrate their import. Charlotte Bronte. Jane Eyre.
- I could not ask you back at first, Eustacia, for I was unable to persuade myself that he who was with you was not there as a lover. Thomas Hardy. The Return of the Native.
- The students of languages (philologists) tell us that they are unable to trace with certainty any common features in all the languages of mankind. H. G. Wells. The Outline of History_Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind.
- A battle ensued, but he was unable to drive Hardee away before night set in. Ulysses S. Grant. Personal Memoirs of U. S. Grant.
- Unable to answer this question in a breath, I evaded it by change of subject. Charlotte Bronte. Villette.
- He was still for two or three minutes, which seemed endless to her, unable to speak or move, gasping for breath. George Eliot. Middlemarch.
- The ministry were unable longer to oppose their wishes. Benjamin Franklin. Memoirs of Benjamin Franklin.
- Reluctantly, I confessed myself quite unable to answer the question. Charles Dickens. Great Expectations.
Checked by Abram