CRIPPLED Synonyms: 194 Similar and Opposite Words

crippled 1 of 2

adjective

as in injured

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crippled

2 of 2

verb

past tense of cripple

as in incapacitated

to cause severe or permanent injury to the car crash may have crippled two people for life

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

as in damaged

to reduce the soundness, effectiveness, or perfection of the collision so severely crippled the ship that it had to be towed into port

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

as in paralyzed

to render powerless, ineffective, or unable to move a wave of strikes crippled that nation's steel industry

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of crippled

Adjective

Others warn that if Boulder’s lawsuit is successful oil and gas companies could be financially crippled and other industries will be the next in line for lawsuits over climate change. — Noelle Phillips, Denver Post, 4 Oct. 2026 Lines at Russian gas stations, crippled refineries, and images of burning oil depots blackening the sky lent credence to the narrative, as did blackouts and fuel shortages in Crimea. — Brady Knox, The Washington Examiner, 26 Sep. 2026 Liberal critics, however, argued—also rightly—that the Soviet Union was a decaying, economically crippled giant by the time Reagan was inaugurated. — Tom Nichols, The Atlantic, 14 Aug. 2026 During the near-disastrous Apollo 13 mission in 1970, commander Jim Lovell was informed of the successful impact while piloting his crippled spacecraft around the moon. — Jeffrey Kluger, Time, 4 Aug. 2026 In 1985, the world’s worst single-aircraft disaster occurred as a crippled Japan Airlines Boeing 747 on a domestic flight crashed into a mountain, killing 520 people. — ABC News, 28 July 2026 Aemond finds himself at the mercy of the Harrenhal witch, Alys Rivers, while Aegon and Larys continue their misadventures near Rook’s Rest, where the fallen and crippled king must, for once, learn some humility. — Erik Kain, Forbes.com, 26 July 2026 The New York Times shattered the White House image of a crippled Iran in May. — Ben Smith, semafor.com, 15 June 2026 In the end, efforts to cool the crippled tank by spraying water on it were believed to have helped slow down the reaction enough to prevent an explosion or massive rupture in the tank that could have sent toxic chemicals flowing into waterways and the ocean. — Iris Kwok, Los Angeles Times, 28 May 2026

Verb

He is crippled by doubt, convinced that others are gaining on him. — Los Angeles Times, 13 Oct. 2026 The long nightmare might be over for South African producers, whose industry has been crippled for more than two years by the paralysis of a rebate program that for all intents and purposes had ceased to function. — Christopher Vourlias, Variety, 12 Oct. 2026 Power outages crippled the Ferris wheel and melted ice cream. — Ta-Nehisi Coates, Vanity Fair, 12 Oct. 2026 Block that passage, the thinking went, and China’s economy would be crippled. — Andy Browne, semafor.com, 6 Oct. 2026 Swaney founded WatchUr6, a cybersecurity company, in 2022 after seeing news reports about a hospital crippled by a cyberattack. — Don Sweeney, Sacbee.com, 11 Sep. 2026 Our protagonist has been crippled with doubts about the miller’s daughter and prone to emotional highs and lows. — Literary Hub, 10 Sep. 2026 The Kawhi Leonard deal, and the financial malfeasance that came with it, has crippled the franchise. — Jon Greenberg, New York Times, 9 Sep. 2026 Legendary sports agent Leigh Steinberg explained that while Watson has hurt the Browns on the field with his play, his exorbitant contract has crippled the team's salary-cap flexibility. — Ryan Canfield Outkick, FOXNews.com, 5 Sep. 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for crippled

Adjective

Like Dillane’s Willoughby, wily and louche, who quite literally sweeps Marianne off her injured foot and into a giggly, schoolyard kind of chaotic sudden romance.

— Ryan Lattanzio, IndieWire, 13 Oct. 2026
The injured officer was taken to an area hospital with serious but non-life-threatening injuries.

— Jeff Gurney, CBS News, 12 Oct. 2026

Definition of injured

Verb

The Vatican has no specific rules on how the leadership of the Catholic Church is transferred should the pope be incapacitated.

— Christopher Lamb, CNN Money, 13 Oct. 2026
Medical advances and popes’ longer lifespans, however, have highlighted this gap in church law and prompted calls for the Vatican to prepare for a pope becoming too ill or incapacitated to govern.

— ABC News, ABC News, 12 Oct. 2026

Definition of incapacitated

Verb

The bottom of the walls was damaged; these surfaces are not smooth and easily cleanable.

— NWA Democrat-Gazette, Arkansas Online, 19 Oct. 2026
But cars have been burned, trees damaged and people hurt in communities across the Palestinian territory, with some people calling this the most dangerous season yet.

— Reuters, NBC news, 18 Oct. 2026

Definition of damaged

Verb

Antinori doesn’t know how the alarms were disabled, Vivoli said, and a police probe is ongoing.

— Catherina Gioino, Fortune, 9 Oct. 2026
Chief Executive Renzo Cotarella said the thieves disabled the winery’s alarm system and surveillance cameras before entering with two large trucks.

— ABC News, ABC News, 9 Oct. 2026

Definition of disabled

Adjective

She was treated at hospitals in Ramallah and Israel for lacerations across her body, a broken rib and four broken vertebrae.

— Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 17 Oct. 2026
The desire to move—even to move the broken ankle itself—became, at times, overwhelming.

— Joshua Rothman, New Yorker, 16 Oct. 2026

Definition of broken

Verb

Five people were killed and 36 wounded in a Russian attack on the Ukrainian capital that lasted from Tuesday evening into Wednesday morning, Kyiv police said.

— Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 15 Oct. 2026
The two exchanged gunfire, and she was shot in the thigh and knee and wounded in her index finger.

— Meagan Harris, CBS News, 14 Oct. 2026

Definition of wounded

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Style

“Crippled.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/crippled. Accessed 20 Oct. 2026.

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Synonyms of crippled

adjective

verb

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