debilitating

adjective

de·​bil·​i·​tat·​ing di-ˈbi-lə-ˌtā-tiŋ 

dē-

: causing serious impairment of strength or ability to function

debilitating pain

a debilitating fear of public speaking

a debilitating illness

Thirty years have passed since a vaccine wiped out polio, but some of those who conquered the debilitating disease as children are now experiencing symptoms that seem all too familiar.

—Fay Knicely

Several of these drugs are now in clinical testing to determine whether they can reduce or eliminate the debilitating nausea suffered by cancer patients on chemotherapy.

—Ron Cowen

debilitatingly adverb

Debilitatingly asthmatic as a child, Scarfe developed his talent while amusing himself and acquired the cynicism for authority that empowers his … drawings and sculpture during many frightening encounters with medical incompetence.

—Ray Olson

Did you know?

Debilitating describes things that cause serious impairment of strength or ability to function. The word appears in both medical and general contexts; someone can suffer from debilitating nausea or debilitating stage fright. An adjective that takes the form of a verb, debilitating dates to the mid-17th century, making it the youngest of a trio: its source, the verb debilitate ("to impair the strength of"), dates to the early 16th century, and the noun debility ("weakness, infirmity") has been in use since the 15th century. All come from the Latin word for "weak," debilis. Polyglots may recognize the influence of debilis in words from Spanish, Russian, Czech, Turkish, Danish, and many other languages as well.

Examples of debilitating in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

No cause of death information was released, but Ralphs had been bed-ridden since suffering a debilitating stroke days after a Bad Company show — ultimately his last — at London’s O2 Arena on Oct. 29, 2016. —David Matthews, New York Daily News, 24 June 2025

The scheduling announcement comes as the U.S. and China have squabbled over numerous issues in the midst of a debilitating trade war that threatens both economic superpowers. —Kevin Breuninger, CNBC, 6 June 2025

The dataset is designed to help researchers better understand the relationship between genetics, immunology and metabolism, which could accelerate new treatments for the debilitating neurological disease. —Alex Knapp, Forbes.com, 30 Apr. 2025

Keeping with that maxim, McNally begins with his suicide attempt in 2018 on the heels of a debilitating stroke. —Sean Woods, Rolling Stone, 24 May 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1641, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for debilitating

• accelerating
• accentuating
• accommodating
• accumulating
• adjudicating
• administrating
• affiliating
• agglutinating
• alienating
• alleviating
• amalgamating
• ameliorating

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