paralyzed

adjective

par·​a·​lyzed ˈper-ə-ˌlīzd 

ˈpa-rə-

1

: affected with paralysis

… a viral infection that paralyzed half her face and impaired her balance, hearing, and eyesight …

—Golf

If the right hemisphere of the brain is badly damaged in its sensory (parietal) areas, patients may show … an unawareness that anything is the matter, even though the left side of their body is senseless or paralyzed.

—Oliver Sacks

Thousands of paralyzed people worldwide are in the socially closed-off state.

—Christen Brownlee

2

: rendered incapable of movement or action

I was not found by the teacher until what seemed to me hours later but was probably five minutes, paralyzed with fright.

—Kay Boyle

Those who uncover plagiarism become paralyzed with embarrassment, letting the culprit escape rather than confronting him.

—Walter Kendrick

Synonyms of paralyzed

• disabled
• paralytic

Examples of paralyzed in a Sentence

special ramps for paralyzed people in wheelchairs

a seemingly paralyzed mayor sat by as the city's crime rate soared

Recent Examples on the Web

One of the bullets in Monday’s shooting hit the teen’s spine, leaving him paralyzed from the waist down, his mother said. —Thomas Tracy, New York Daily News, 30 Apr. 2026

The result is a paralyzed country where the most vulnerable populations. —Sarah Moreno updated April 29, Miami Herald, 29 Apr. 2026

Struggling writer Lowen Ashleigh (Dakota Johnson) is offered the opportunity of a lifetime when Jeremy Crawford (Josh Hartnett), the husband of paralyzed novelist Verity Crawford (Anne Hathaway), invites her to finish Verity’s series of novels. —Elizabeth Logan, Glamour, 28 Apr. 2026

Now at 21, Lucy’s family is helping her rebuild after the spinal stroke left her paralyzed from the neck down. —Angel Saunders, PEOPLE, 23 Apr. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1763, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for paralyzed

• acclimatized
• actualized
• aerosolized
• alphabetized
• aluminized
• anaesthetized
• anesthetized
• annualized
• antagonized
• apologised
• apologized
• capitalised