Inability

How to spell inability

9 letters · 5 syllables

How to pronounce inability

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does inability mean?

1. nounThe state of being unable to do something; a lack of power, skill, or means.

Inability in a sentence

• His inability to meet the deadline cost the team the contract.

• The report blamed the delays on an inability to recruit skilled staff.

Where does inability come from?

Language of origin: Latin

The word is built on 'ability', which English took through Old French from the Latin habilitas, meaning 'aptness' or 'fitness for something'. That noun grew out of the adjective habilis, literally 'easy to hold or handle', which itself came from habere, 'to have' or 'to hold'. To this English added the negative prefix 'in-', meaning simply 'not', producing a word that names the state of not being able. The same habere root quietly sits inside a surprising family of English words, including 'habit', 'inhabit', and 'exhibit'. Notice that the spelling keeps a single 'l' in 'ability', and that single 'l' carries straight through into 'inability', which is the small trap most writers need to watch.

How the word is built

• in- (not)
• abil- (from Latin habilis: apt, easy to handle)
• -ity (noun-forming suffix)