Unable

How to spell unable

6 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce unable

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does unable mean?

1. adjectiveLacking the power, skill, time, or means to do something.

Unable in a sentence

• She was unable to attend the meeting because of a prior commitment.

• The bank was unable to process the payment until the funds cleared.

Where does unable come from?

Language of origin: Latin

The word unable is built from the native English prefix un-, meaning 'not', attached to the adjective able. Able itself entered English in the 1300s from Old French able, which came from the Latin habilis, meaning 'easy to handle' or 'fit for a purpose'. That Latin word derives from habere, the verb 'to have' or 'to hold', so the original idea was something you could readily grasp or manage. The prefix un- is one of the oldest and most productive negating elements in English, inherited directly from Old English and the wider Germanic family. Putting the two together gives a straightforward 'not able', a pattern that has been in steady written use since the late Middle Ages. The single silent trap for many writers is remembering that there is just one n after the prefix, since un- ends in n and able begins with a vowel.

How the word is built

• un- (not)
• able (having the power or means to)