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usually uncountable, plural helplessnesses
The state of being helpless. quotations examples
From the most ancient times to the present, in the crudest primitive tribe or the most magnificently ornamented civilization, man has found himself in a state of awed helplessness when confronted by the phenomena of strange illnesses or aberrations.
1950, L. Ron Hubbard, Dianetics, New Era Publications, published 1999, page 10
ADAM: 'You are faced with overwhelming power. Accept your helplessness.'
2021 October 8, Metroid Dread, Nintendo, Nintendo Switch, scene: Adam Briefing, level/area: Cataris
A feeling of inadequacy or impotence. quotations examples
Captain Edward Carlisle, soldier as he was, martinet as he was, felt a curious sensation of helplessness seize upon him as he met her steady gaze, her alluring smile ; he could not tell what this prisoner might do.
1910, Emerson Hough, chapter I, in The Purchase Price: Or The Cause of Compromise, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company