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

When Thornton was 25 years old, in 1992, he was injured in a rock climbing accident that left him paralyzed from the waist down. —Caroline Blair, PEOPLE, 8 Jan. 2026

Clancy allegedly strangled her three children and then tried to kill herself by jumping out a window in 2023, leaving her paralyzed from the sternum down. —Colleen Cronin, Boston Herald, 7 Jan. 2026

Smith, an Arizona husband and father, is completely paralyzed and relies on a ventilator to breathe. —Khloe Quill, FOXNews.com, 5 Jan. 2026

Then a global pandemic paralyzed air travel for almost two years. —Nora Gámez Torres, Miami Herald, 23 Dec. 2025

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