unable
/ʌnˈeɪbl̩/ adjective, interjection, verb
Forms unabler unablest unables unabling unabled
- adjective Not able; lacking a certain ability. “Are you unable to mind your own business or something?”
- interjection (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."”
- verb (transitive, nonstandard) To render unable; to disable.
Synonyms
Antonyms
Etymology
From Middle English unable, unabel, unhable, unhabil, equivalent to un- + able.
From Middle English unablen, equivalent to un- + able.
Webster’s 1913
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “unable”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details