incapacitated

adjective

in·​ca·​pac·​i·​tat·​ed ˌin-kə-ˈpa-sə-ˌtā-təd How to pronounce incapacitated (audio)
: deprived of capacity or natural power : made incapable of or unfit for normal functioning
… can care for cats while the owners are away or are temporarily incapacitated and unable to care for their pets.Karen Commings
… when an incapacitated patient hasn't left a living will or designated someone to make his or her medical decisions, families agree on what to do anyway in about two-thirds of the cases …Jeff Chu et al.
Eventually, he [Washington Roebling] became bedridden, in a room that overlooked the bridge under construction, with Emily effectively serving as assistant engineer and intermediary between the incapacitated chief engineer and his lieutenants on the construction site.Henry Petroski

Examples of incapacitated in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web Asked why legal fees cannot be more readily known, Moran cited privacy concerns of the incapacitated person. Mary Jordan, Washington Post, 4 Nov. 2023 Prosecutors alleged the suspects drugged the victims, used their incapacitated faces to unlock their cellphones using facial recognition technology and then robbed them. Matt Lavietes, NBC News, 24 Oct. 2023 The incapacitated fish is then sucked into the body of the robot, and up to 10 fish can be captured before the robot needs to return to the surface. IEEE Spectrum, 14 Mar. 2019 To make its point, the agency cited Hacienda HealthCare’s struggle with negative publicity after a nurse was accused of raping and impregnating an incapacitated patient. Sahana Jayaraman, AZCentral.com, 27 June 2023 While robberies involving incapacitated victims are nothing new, the technology offers thieves quick and easy access to incapacitated victims. Michael Ruiz, Fox News, 4 Apr. 2023 Crash investigators face a difficult task dissecting what happened aboard the private jet that cruised up and down the US East Coast on Sunday with an incapacitated pilot, especially if the cause was a lack of oxygen. Alan Levin, Bloomberg.com, 7 June 2023 Experts and investigators who examine plane crashes with incapacitated pilots often zero in on cabin depressurization and hypoxia, or loss of oxygen, as a culprit. Jay Blackman, NBC News, 5 June 2023 Historians and scientists have different theories about his diagnosis, but George III (played by Corey Mylchreest) had documented bouts of mental illness, and eventually his eldest son George took over ruling for his incapacitated father as Prince Regent. Kelly Lawler, USA TODAY, 9 May 2023 See More

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'incapacitated.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

1769, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of incapacitated was in 1769

Dictionary Entries Near incapacitated

Cite this Entry

“Incapacitated.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/incapacitated. Accessed 11 Dec. 2023.

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