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

This is a major escalation for the kingdom, which had re-routed much of its oil exports through Red Sea ports as the Strait of Hormuz remains paralyzed. — Salma Arafa, CNN Money, 30 July 2026

Within three days, Mohn became paralyzed from the waist down, which doctors attributed to a reaction to the anesthesia. — Jordan Greene, PEOPLE, 30 July 2026

The egg hatches into a legless larva that consumes the paralyzed insect. — Tim Johnson, Chicago Tribune, 26 July 2026

The impact, and possibly his movement by deputies after he was taken down, left him paralyzed from the neck down. — Trevor Morgan, Sacbee.com, 24 July 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1763, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for paralyzed

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