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Glite Dictionary
unempowered

unempowered

1 7.0
Not able to make decisions or influence things
  • adjective
  • /ˌʌnɪmˈpaʊərd/
: desempoderado
  • The new policies left the students feeling unempowered to voice their concerns during the meetings.

I there was there have been moments this year when I have felt deeply hopeless and deeply sort of unempowered in like how we going to sort of fight this.

Examples

  • So people felt completely unempowered, that if a decision was made, it was made, and there was nothing you could do about it.

    Blog text (16)

  • One gentleman stood and said that the real problem is that the people there are completely unempowered.

    Blog text (21)

  • The question remains, can administrators change the unempowered feelings of dissatisfied teachers?

    Academic text (1991)

  • Her appearance and the distinguishing features of her speech community mark her as a member of the unempowered female workforce of 1930s England.

    Academic text (2001)

  • In the literature on precontact social relations, widows are often described as unempowered and obliged to remarry.

    Academic text (1992)

  • If Obama wants to reshape this country for the benefit of the poor and the unempowered, he needs to reduce the stability and inertia that the middle class both desires and provides.

    Blog text (2)

  • Many citizens feel unempowered when important decisions are made without their input.

  • In discussions about social justice, many marginalized groups express how they feel unempowered to affect change.

Synonyms

unable
vsunempowered
671 1.0

Not having the skill, strength or things needed to do something

stresses lack of authority or confidence to act not just inability
helpless
vsunempowered
237 2.0

Not able to act or protect yourself

focuses more on lacking authority or confidence to influence rather than vulnerability
weak
vsunempowered
189 1.6

Not able to control people or make strong decisions

implies low confidence and inability to act or influence decisions
powerless
vsunempowered
117 3.6

Unable to do or stop something because you have no control

also implies low confidence or reluctance to try influencing things
disenfranchised
vsunempowered
30 7.8

People who lack the right to vote and have little power in society

is less about legal rights and more about personal lack of authority or confidence
impotent
vsunempowered
28 6.8

Unable to act or change a situation

adds the idea of lacking authority or confidence rather than only weakness
downtrodden
vsunempowered
21 6.6

People who are treated badly by those with power

differs by emphasising mistreatment rather than simply lacking authority or confidence
unpowerful
vsunempowered
1 5.8

Not strong and not able to make things happen

also suggests low authority or missing confidence to act or influence
nonautonomous
vsunempowered
1 8.8

A place or group that cannot govern itself because outside people control it

contrasts by highlighting internal lack of confidence or authority rather than external control
noncontrolling
vsunempowered
1 7.0

Not able to make major decisions for a company

adds missing personal confidence and authority beyond mere lack of control
uninvested
vsunempowered
  • Formal
7.2

Having no official power or duties in a job

is broader, including lacking influence or confidence beyond formal appointment

Antonyms

empowered
  • Formal
46 4.2

Having official power to make decisions

How Empowered

powerful
948 3.0
influential
186 4.6
empowered
  • Formal
46 4.2
unempowered
1 7.0
powerless
117 3.6

Surface Forms

unempowered positive

Morphology

unempowered = empowered (transparent) = un + empower + ed

The meaning is clearly derived from 'empowered' with the prefix 'un-' indicating negation.

Etymology

Unempowered comes from the parts un- ('not') and empower, which is built on power ('ability to act' or 'authority'). So, unempowered describes someone who does not have the power, support, or confidence to make decisions or change things.