1.
lack of a plan; absence of policy; having no strategy
The state of having no plan, policy, or countermeasures. Often used critically to describe a government, organization, or person's failure to take action.
政府の無策を批判する。
To criticize the government's lack of policy.
無策のまま時間だけが過ぎた。
Time just passed with no plan in place.
経営陣の無策が会社の衰退を招いたと言わざるを得ない。
One cannot help but say that the management's lack of strategy invited the company's decline.
Composed of 無 (without, non-) and 策 (plan, policy, measure). Carries a critical or negative tone, implying that action should have been taken but was not. Almost always used in a critical context.
COMMON COLLOCATIONS:
- 無策を批判する — to criticize the lack of policy
- 無策ぶり — the extent of the lack of strategy
- 無為無策 — doing nothing and having no plan (emphatic compound)
- 無策のまま — with no plan in place
SIMILAR WORDS:
- 無為 — inaction, doing nothing; emphasizes the absence of action rather than the absence of a plan
- 無能 — incompetence; a harsher criticism of a person's abilities rather than their planning
- 怠慢 — negligence, laziness; implies the failure was due to carelessness or laziness