Meaning & use
inability
Last updated
UK/ˌɪnəˈbɪləti/
US/ˌɪnəˈbɪləti/
Meaning
noununcountable
The fact of not being able to do something because you lack the skill, power or means.
Grammar: Usually followed by to plus a verb: an inability to swim.
Patterns
- inability to do something
- someone's inability to do something
His inability to sleep left him exhausted at work.
The report blames the agency's inability to share information.
She was frustrated by her inability to express herself in French.
Word forms
| plural | inabilities |
|---|
Common combinations
- inability to pay
- Her inability to pay the rent led to the move.
- inability to concentrate
- The illness caused an inability to concentrate.
- inability to cope
- The manager noticed her inability to cope with the workload.
- apparent inability
- His apparent inability to listen annoyed everyone.
- sheer inability
- The delay was due to sheer inability, not neglect.
Synonyms and how they differ
- incapacity
- Incapacity is more formal and often legal or medical, while inability is general.
- incompetence
- Incompetence criticizes lack of skill at a job, but inability can have outside causes.
- powerlessness
- Powerlessness stresses lack of control over events, whereas inability stresses a missing skill or means.
Opposites
Word family
- unable adjective
- not able to do something
- ability noun
- the power or skill to do something
- able adjective
- having the power or skill
- disability noun
- a condition limiting what someone can do
Commonly confused: inability or disability?
inability vs disability
A disability is a long-term condition, while an inability is just not being able to do one thing.
Practice
Her ___ to speak in public held her back in the job.
Choose one answer.
Inability is a noun and takes to plus a verb. Unable and incapable are adjectives, and disable is a verb.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “inability”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.
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