Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

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.

            How shall I then your helpless fame defend? --Pope.

   2. Beyond help; irremediable.

            Some helpless disagreement or dislike, either of
            mind or body.                         --Milton.

   3. Bringing no help; unaiding. [Obs.]

            Yet since the gods have been Helpless foreseers of
            my plagues.                           --Chapman.

   4. Unsupplied; destitute; -- with of. [R.]

            Helpless of all that human wants require. --Dryden.
      -- {Help"less*ly}, adv. -- {Help"less*ness}, n.

Source : WordNet®

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