Search Result for "helplessness": 
Wordnet 3.0

NOUN (3)

1. powerlessness revealed by an inability to act;
- Example: "in spite of their weakness the group remains active"
[syn: helplessness, weakness, impuissance]

2. the state of needing help from something;

3. a feeling of being unable to manage;


The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Helpless \Help"less\, a. 1. Destitute of help or strength; unable to help or defend one's self; needing help; feeble; weak; as, a helpless infant. [1913 Webster] How shall I then your helpless fame defend? --Pope. [1913 Webster] 2. Beyond help; irremediable. [1913 Webster] Some helpless disagreement or dislike, either of mind or body. --Milton. [1913 Webster] 3. Bringing no help; unaiding. [Obs.] [1913 Webster] Yet since the gods have been Helpless foreseers of my plagues. --Chapman. [1913 Webster] 4. Unsupplied; destitute; -- with of. [R.] [1913 Webster] Helpless of all that human wants require. --Dryden. -- Help"less*ly, adv. -- Help"less*ness, n. [1913 Webster]
WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):

helplessness n 1: powerlessness revealed by an inability to act; "in spite of their weakness the group remains active" [syn: helplessness, weakness, impuissance] 2: the state of needing help from something 3: a feeling of being unable to manage