Synonyms of crippling

crippling 1 of 2

noun

as in harm

Related Words

• harm
• mutilation
• injury
• detriment
• disability
• mayhem
• beating
• hurt
• impairment
• damage
• lesion
• disfigurement
• disablement
• rupture
• affliction
• swelling
• defacement
• strain
• abrasion
• wound
• scratch
• contusion
• bruise
• scrape
• concussion
• gash
• burn
• laceration
• chafe
• scar
• bump
• scald
• boo-boo
• cut
• sear
• scathe

Dissimilar Words

• recovery
• healing
• remedy
• cure
• fix

crippling

2 of 2

verb

present participle of cripple

1

as in incapacitating

to cause severe or permanent injury to

the car crash may have crippled two people for life

Synonyms & Similar Words

• incapacitating
• disabling
• damaging
• wounding
• injuring
• bruising
• hurting
• maiming
• scarring
• killing
• mutilating
• paralyzing
• laming
• hitting
• hobbling
• impairing
• battering
• beating
• hamstringing
• disfiguring
• dismembering
• harming
• mangling
• lacerating
• mauling
• murdering
• licking
• winging
• pummeling
• slapping
• pounding
• smashing
• hammering
• torturing
• goring
• bludgeoning
• smacking
• roughing (up)
• buffeting
• punching
• whipping
• thumping
• banging
• tormenting
• whacking
• lashing
• bashing
• boxing
• lambasting
• thrashing
• breaking
• kneecapping
• socking
• drubbing
• pelting
• flogging
• pasting
• swiping
• belting
• swatting
• spanking
• walloping
• lacing
• bunging up
• thwacking
• pommeling

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• curing
• healing
• remedying
• rehabilitating
• fixing
• repairing
• patching
• restoring
• mending
• renewing
• doctoring
• rejuvenating

2

as in damaging

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

• damaging
• marring
• injuring
• weakening
• hurting
• compromising
• impairing
• eroding
• breaking
• spoiling
• harming
• disfiguring
• destroying
• undermining
• ruining
• crossing (up)
• vitiating
• defacing
• shattering
• bloodying
• deteriorating
• blemishing
• flawing
• crabbing
• battering
• wounding
• devastating
• endamaging
• enervating
• enfeebling
• wrecking
• blighting
• disabling
• wearing (away)
• crushing
• demolishing
• tarnishing
• denting
• scouring
• torturing
• smashing
• tormenting
• washing out
• maiming
• botching
• wasting
• lacerating
• hamstringing
• mutilating
• annihilating
• decimating
• mangling
• pulverizing
• clobbering
• desolating
• gumming (up)
• wiping out
• totaling
• razing
• bashing
• dinging
• tearing down
• laming
• queering
• dinting
• scourging
• dashing
• doing in
• banging up

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• repairing
• rebuilding
• fixing
• reconstructing
• helping
• curing
• patching
• healing
• revamping
• reconditioning
• mending
• remedying
• renovating
• rehabilitating
• rectifying
• improving
• revising
• doctoring
• enhancing
• remodeling
• editing
• ameliorating
• refining
• enriching
• perfecting
• bettering
• meliorating

3

as in paralyzing

to render powerless, ineffective, or unable to move

a wave of strikes crippled that nation's steel industry

Synonyms & Similar Words

• paralyzing
• undermining
• incapacitating
• disabling
• weakening
• immobilizing
• debilitating
• hamstringing
• undercutting
• sapping
• attenuating
• enervating
• prostrating
• hobbling
• tiring
• enfeebling
• mutilating
• maiming
• laming
• knocking out

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• galvanizing
• strengthening
• energizing
• invigorating
• vitalizing
• empowering
• fortifying
• restoring
• reviving
• revitalizing
• regenerating
• rejuvenating
• refreshing
• freshening
• refreshening

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of crippling

Noun

The 12-day barrage came on the back of a series of setbacks for Iran’s leaders, including the crippling of its regional allies Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon. — Brian Bennett, Time, 28 Feb. 2026

Verb

Florida didn’t have the cap space to work out the shorter term deal without crippling its ability to make other moves this offseason to enhance the roster. — Jordan McPherson, Miami Herald, 3 July 2026

Eddie Marsan also delivers a sympathetic turn as the sad sack dad worn down by the effects of capitalism and sometimes crippling OCD. — Jon O'Brien, Vulture, 26 June 2026

Crucially, the strike targeted a critical AVT-6 distillation unit, potentially crippling the refinery's entire 12 million tons/year capacity,. — David Hambling, Forbes.com, 19 June 2026

The fall broke both his legs, crippling him. — Jennifer Ouellette, ArsTechnica, 14 June 2026

The Ukrainian military sank several Russian warships in the Black Sea and at their Crimean bases, crippling Moscow’s naval capability and forcing it to redeploy its fleet to Novorossiysk. — ABC News, 11 June 2026

However, Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller — who lost the recent Republican primary to a candidate backed by Abbott — said the federal response will take too long and risks crippling the cattle industry. — Jeffrey Collins, Fortune, 9 June 2026

Anxiety over ChatGPT and other emerging technology helped derail talks with both unions and the AMPTP in 2023, leading to crippling dual strikes. — Dade Hayes, Deadline, 31 May 2026

But, in a separate incident reported by Reuters, it was revealed that Musk did cut service in eastern Ukraine around the same time, crippling a planned Ukrainian counteroffensive in Kherson. — Ben Tarnoff, Big Think, 23 Apr. 2026