1
as in incapacitates
to cause severe or permanent injury to
the car crash may have crippled two people for life
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in injures
to reduce the soundness, effectiveness, or perfection of
the collision so severely crippled the ship that it had to be towed into port
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in paralyzes
to render powerless, ineffective, or unable to move
a wave of strikes crippled that nation's steel industry
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of cripples
The author takes an overnight Amtrak journey instead of a flight to Washington as the government shutdown cripples Atlanta’s airport.
—
Bill Barrow, Los Angeles Times, 30 Mar. 2026
These pressures could produce a tsunami that fractures the state’s fiscal foundation, self-inflicts a crisis ultimately demanding drastic cuts, and cripples its competitiveness.
—Andrew Rein, New York Daily News, 6 Jan. 2026
Scarface and friends attack the lab, and break out the kryptonite that cripples El and Kali.
—Kelly Lawler, USA Today, 31 Dec. 2025
Second, this ambiguity around responsibility cripples an organization’s ability to respond effectively.
—Nelson Lim, Fortune, 10 Oct. 2025
Drones allow aggressors to target critical infrastructure that cripples a defender’s economy at low cost and with high accuracy.
—Omar Al-Ubaydli, semafor.com, 8 Oct. 2025
This inefficiency is invisible during small-scale development tests but completely cripples an application’s performance under the heavy load of a real production environment.
—Expert Panel®, Forbes.com, 19 Sep. 2025
An ongoing alien siege cripples the world’s militaries, infrastructure, and communication centers but Will can run Premiere Pro, FaceTime, WhatsApp, Microsoft Teams, Zoom, and remote control a Tesla all at the same time.
—Ct Jones, Rolling Stone, 12 Aug. 2025
Bill Barrow, Los Angeles Times, 30 Mar. 2026
These pressures could produce a tsunami that fractures the state’s fiscal foundation, self-inflicts a crisis ultimately demanding drastic cuts, and cripples its competitiveness.
—Andrew Rein, New York Daily News, 6 Jan. 2026
Scarface and friends attack the lab, and break out the kryptonite that cripples El and Kali.
—Kelly Lawler, USA Today, 31 Dec. 2025
Second, this ambiguity around responsibility cripples an organization’s ability to respond effectively.
—Nelson Lim, Fortune, 10 Oct. 2025
Drones allow aggressors to target critical infrastructure that cripples a defender’s economy at low cost and with high accuracy.
—Omar Al-Ubaydli, semafor.com, 8 Oct. 2025
This inefficiency is invisible during small-scale development tests but completely cripples an application’s performance under the heavy load of a real production environment.
—Expert Panel®, Forbes.com, 19 Sep. 2025
An ongoing alien siege cripples the world’s militaries, infrastructure, and communication centers but Will can run Premiere Pro, FaceTime, WhatsApp, Microsoft Teams, Zoom, and remote control a Tesla all at the same time.
—Ct Jones, Rolling Stone, 12 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for cripples
Verb
-
Lorenzo confronts and incapacitates Pepe, Sonia’s main ally, before facing Sonia herself.—
Isabella Wandermurem,
Time,
24 Sep. 2025
Verb
-
In her desperation to ask Val for a job on the new sitcom, Sharon falls and injures herself.—
Louis Peitzman,
Vulture,
30 Mar. 2026
-
Pool drain seriously injures girl Paloma Quatrini was just days away from her fourth birthday when the accident happened at an upscale resort in Mexico.—
Meghan Schiller,
CBS News,
16 Mar. 2026
Verb
-
Once an octopus ambushes and bites its prey, the venom in its saliva paralyzes the prey, allowing the octopus to consume it.—
Encyclopedia Britannica,
Encyclopedia Britannica,
6 Mar. 2026
-
Monster blizzard paralyzes Northeast with extreme snow, soaring power outages.—
,
FOXNews.com,
23 Feb. 2026
Verb
-
The MorphoScan is even missing a couple of quality-of-life features present on the Etekcity scale, including a safe mode for pregnant women and pacemaker users that disables the BIA electrical current for weight-only measurements.—
Andrew Gebhart,
PC Magazine,
5 Apr. 2026
-
The use of shock waves, or blast overpressure (BOP), kills or disables enemies with the force of the explosion, vaporizing the weapon’s plastic outer shell.—
Brad Lendon,
CNN Money,
2 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
Over the long run, missing the market's best days damages your returns.—
Jim Cramer,
CNBC,
8 Apr. 2026
-
Military advocates warn that deporting service members’ spouses damages recruitment and morale, undermining national security interests.—
Jack Brook,
Los Angeles Times,
7 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
In response, Varsity and USASF have argued that the Open Championship’s own growth, both in terms of participant numbers and event revenue, undermines the notion that the defendants illegally stifled competition.—
Daniel Libit,
Sportico.com,
8 Apr. 2026
-
Anything less undermines public trust.—
Scott M. Reid,
Oc Register,
7 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
No sadness mars the purity of its paranoia.—
Anthony Lane,
New Yorker,
22 Mar. 2026
-
However, an earnestness mars most of the proceedings.—
Murtada Elfadl,
Variety,
20 Mar. 2026
Verb
-
Similar to airline tickets or ride-sharing fares, prices may rise when demand exceeds available seats and fall when demand weakens.—
Encyclopedia Britannica,
Encyclopedia Britannica,
2 Apr. 2026
-
This shift ignores local differences and weakens a decentralized model that has allowed rules to be tailored to the realities of each state.—
Cláudia Nunes,
The Orlando Sentinel,
2 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Cripples.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/cripples. Accessed 12 Apr. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
