as in injured
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1
as in incapacitated
to cause severe or permanent injury to
the car crash may have crippled two people for life
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2
as in damaged
to reduce the soundness, effectiveness, or perfection of
the collision so severely crippled the ship that it had to be towed into port
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3
as in paralyzed
to render powerless, ineffective, or unable to move
a wave of strikes crippled that nation's steel industry
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of crippled
Katy Golvala, Hartford Courant, 31 Jan. 2026
Nashville, where power infrastructure was particularly crippled, is forecast to only reach around 20 degrees while Tupelo could approach 26 degrees.
—Mary Gilbert, CNN Money, 30 Jan. 2026
The crippled Apollo 13 spacecraft flew a similar circumlunar route, reaching 158 miles beyond the far side of the moon at its most remote remove.
—Jeffrey Kluger, Time, 29 Jan. 2026
Some—or all—of that could be crippled if an autonomous agent just completes a transaction and then vanishes.
—Amanda Gerut, Fortune, 13 Jan. 2026
The crippled government is seeking to regain its footing, deploying large numbers of military and paramilitary personnel to secure the capital.
—Brady Knox, The Washington Examiner, 4 Jan. 2026
Soon Hatchet was rousting birds out of overgrown creek bottoms and tracking down crippled roosters in cattails.
—Natalie Krebs, Outdoor Life, 24 Dec. 2025
Jamaica’s regional tourism, fishing and agriculture industries – still recovering from Hurricane Beryl a year earlier – were crippled.
—Shannon Gibson, The Conversation, 19 Nov. 2025
The Max program was crippled following two crashes of the planes in 2018 and 2019, which killed all 346 people on the two flights.
—Leslie Josephs, CNBC, 17 Oct. 2025
Rachel Monroe, New Yorker, 18 Feb. 2026
Measles is endemic in Somalia, where war and international aid cuts have crippled the medical system, and elsewhere in East Africa where residents here often travel.
—CBS News, 6 Feb. 2026
In 2021, a record-shattering outbreak of cold in Texas crippled the state’s electric grid, a meltdown blamed in large part on failures in its gas infrastructure.
—Kristi Swartz, AJC.com, 26 Jan. 2026
Widespread power outages, dilapidated equipment, and a lack of spare parts from absent foreign firms crippled operations.
—Scott Montgomery, Forbes.com, 25 Jan. 2026
Mexico has since emerged as Cuba’s single largest external oil supplier, making its role critical for an island already crippled by chronic energy shortages, rolling blackouts and deepening economic stagnation.
—Antonio María Delgado, Miami Herald, 24 Jan. 2026
Microsoft has found what caused an outage that crippled its services like Outlook and Teams.
—Dade Hayes, Deadline, 22 Jan. 2026
Extreme cost-cutting efforts from Elon Musk’s DOGE crippled entire agencies, including USAID, the Department of Education, and the Department of Health and Human Services.
—Emma Burleigh, Fortune, 22 Jan. 2026
Historically, submarine attacks nearly crippled Britain during World War II.
—Sujita Sinha, Interesting Engineering, 19 Jan. 2026
Adjective
In August 2023, a cyberattack crippled operations at Prospect’s facilities around the country.
—Katy Golvala, Hartford Courant, 31 Jan. 2026
Nashville, where power infrastructure was particularly crippled, is forecast to only reach around 20 degrees while Tupelo could approach 26 degrees.
—Mary Gilbert, CNN Money, 30 Jan. 2026
The crippled Apollo 13 spacecraft flew a similar circumlunar route, reaching 158 miles beyond the far side of the moon at its most remote remove.
—Jeffrey Kluger, Time, 29 Jan. 2026
Some—or all—of that could be crippled if an autonomous agent just completes a transaction and then vanishes.
—Amanda Gerut, Fortune, 13 Jan. 2026
The crippled government is seeking to regain its footing, deploying large numbers of military and paramilitary personnel to secure the capital.
—Brady Knox, The Washington Examiner, 4 Jan. 2026
Soon Hatchet was rousting birds out of overgrown creek bottoms and tracking down crippled roosters in cattails.
—Natalie Krebs, Outdoor Life, 24 Dec. 2025
Jamaica’s regional tourism, fishing and agriculture industries – still recovering from Hurricane Beryl a year earlier – were crippled.
—Shannon Gibson, The Conversation, 19 Nov. 2025
The Max program was crippled following two crashes of the planes in 2018 and 2019, which killed all 346 people on the two flights.
—Leslie Josephs, CNBC, 17 Oct. 2025
Verb
None of this will be shocking to anyone who’s lived in an American city crippled by disinvestment and self-dealing—or even to anyone who’s watched a David Simon show on HBO.
—Rachel Monroe, New Yorker, 18 Feb. 2026
Measles is endemic in Somalia, where war and international aid cuts have crippled the medical system, and elsewhere in East Africa where residents here often travel.
—CBS News, 6 Feb. 2026
In 2021, a record-shattering outbreak of cold in Texas crippled the state’s electric grid, a meltdown blamed in large part on failures in its gas infrastructure.
—Kristi Swartz, AJC.com, 26 Jan. 2026
Widespread power outages, dilapidated equipment, and a lack of spare parts from absent foreign firms crippled operations.
—Scott Montgomery, Forbes.com, 25 Jan. 2026
Mexico has since emerged as Cuba’s single largest external oil supplier, making its role critical for an island already crippled by chronic energy shortages, rolling blackouts and deepening economic stagnation.
—Antonio María Delgado, Miami Herald, 24 Jan. 2026
Microsoft has found what caused an outage that crippled its services like Outlook and Teams.
—Dade Hayes, Deadline, 22 Jan. 2026
Extreme cost-cutting efforts from Elon Musk’s DOGE crippled entire agencies, including USAID, the Department of Education, and the Department of Health and Human Services.
—Emma Burleigh, Fortune, 22 Jan. 2026
Historically, submarine attacks nearly crippled Britain during World War II.
—Sujita Sinha, Interesting Engineering, 19 Jan. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for crippled
Adjective
-
Eyewitnesses said the injured visitors were pulled out from underneath the fallen tree.—
Brady MacDonald,
Oc Register,
18 Feb. 2026
-
Many firms also take over email and phone contact with insurers, so the injured person is not juggling calls between appointments.—
Matt Emma,
USA Today,
17 Feb. 2026
Verb
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Bhusri and Duffield’s agreement also means that if one of the cofounders is incapacitated or dies, the other gets control of both stakes.—
Amanda Gerut,
Fortune,
13 Feb. 2026
-
Seeing their tough-as-nails teammates incapacitated on the floor for such an extended period was jarring to the other Spurs.—
Jeff McDonald,
San Antonio Express-News,
11 Feb. 2026
Verb
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Maternity units and hospitals have been damaged during the Russia-Ukraine war.—
Holly Ellyatt,
CNBC,
24 Feb. 2026
-
Up to 400 works in one of the Egyptian antiquities libraries in the museum were damaged in December when a pipe burst because of flooding, the museum’s deputy general administrator said at the time.—
Babak Dehghanpisheh,
NBC news,
24 Feb. 2026
Verb
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The death of a major cartel boss in Mexico has unleashed a violent backlash in which members of the criminal group have paralyzed some cities through blockades and attacks on property and security forces.—
Angélica Durán-Martínez,
The Conversation,
24 Feb. 2026
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Thousands of air travelers scrambled to make alternate arrangements or simply hunkered down and waited at South Florida’s three international airports Monday as a blizzard that dropped up to 2 feet of snow all but paralyzed most of the Northeast.—
David Lyons,
Sun Sentinel,
23 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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Today, our broken hearts have been lifted at the news that no one is above the law, not even royalty.—
Laura Trujillo,
USA Today,
21 Feb. 2026
-
In February 2025, NASA hired an independent team to determine why the mission failed, examining everything from broken hardware to leadership mistakes.—
Mrigakshi Dixit,
Interesting Engineering,
20 Feb. 2026
Verb
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Officer Brian Elliott was killed in the shooting, and his colleague was wounded in the leg.—
Ryan Murphy,
IndyStar,
20 Feb. 2026
-
Imelda is wounded not only by the philandering of Ferdinand (Chris Renfro) but by an even more painful injury inflicted by her first love, Ninoy Aquino (Joshua Dela Cruz), a politician determined to become the voice of his people.—
Theater Critic,
Los Angeles Times,
20 Feb. 2026
Verb
-
But more recently, Clark’s tenure has been marred by dissent and distractions.—
Hannah Keyser,
CNN Money,
19 Feb. 2026
-
The abrupt withdrawal of Microsoft's co-founder dealt a fresh blow to a flagship event already marred by organisational lapses, a robot row and complaints of traffic chaos.—
Aditya Soni,
USA Today,
19 Feb. 2026
Verb
-
Some of these technologies are essential for ensuring the proper functioning of the service or website and cannot be disabled, while others are optional but serve to enhance the user experience in various ways.—
Hattie Lindert,
Pitchfork,
13 Feb. 2026
-
The video appeared to be captured just before the camera was disabled.—
Jack Dunn,
Variety,
13 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Crippled.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/crippled. Accessed 26 Feb. 2026.
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