as in helpless
unable to act or achieve one's purpose
handcuffed by a dearth of funding, the preservation society can do little but stand by as these historic structures deteriorate
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
1
as in bound
to confine or restrain with or as if with chains
wanted to take the trip, but was handcuffed by her responsibility to watch her ailing father
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in hampered
to create difficulty for the work or activity of
the fear that the new mandatory, standardized tests will handcuff the state's teachers, who will have to specifically tailor their lesson plans for the test
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of handcuffed
Brie Stimson, FOXNews.com, 8 Nov. 2025
The man appeared to already be handcuffed and was escorted away from his car.
—Michael Nied, PEOPLE, 6 Nov. 2025
Soumaya Hamdi said on October 28 that her husband was taken in the middle of the night to be processed in Fresno, during which he was handcuffed at both wrists and ankles.
—Billal Rahman, MSNBC Newsweek, 4 Nov. 2025
Don’t feel handcuffed to the ingredients.
—Karla Walsh, Better Homes & Gardens, 30 Oct. 2025
O’Hara, who recorded his protests and shared them on TikTok, was released without charges after being handcuffed for about 20 minutes, according to the lawsuit.
—Real-Time News Team, Miami Herald, 27 Oct. 2025
When told to back up, Givens starts yelling at police, at which point he is grabbed, taken to the ground and handcuffed.
—Arkansas Online, 26 Oct. 2025
At the precinct, the officers handcuffed him to a chair.
—Omar Jimenez, CNN Money, 26 Oct. 2025
Two hours later, they were handcuffed and taken for fingerprinting, and their hope grew stronger.
—Mosab Abu Toha, New Yorker, 24 Oct. 2025
Verb
Garcia allegedly struck officers before he was handcuffed.
—Brie Stimson, FOXNews.com, 8 Nov. 2025
The man appeared to already be handcuffed and was escorted away from his car.
—Michael Nied, PEOPLE, 6 Nov. 2025
Soumaya Hamdi said on October 28 that her husband was taken in the middle of the night to be processed in Fresno, during which he was handcuffed at both wrists and ankles.
—Billal Rahman, MSNBC Newsweek, 4 Nov. 2025
Don’t feel handcuffed to the ingredients.
—Karla Walsh, Better Homes & Gardens, 30 Oct. 2025
O’Hara, who recorded his protests and shared them on TikTok, was released without charges after being handcuffed for about 20 minutes, according to the lawsuit.
—Real-Time News Team, Miami Herald, 27 Oct. 2025
When told to back up, Givens starts yelling at police, at which point he is grabbed, taken to the ground and handcuffed.
—Arkansas Online, 26 Oct. 2025
At the precinct, the officers handcuffed him to a chair.
—Omar Jimenez, CNN Money, 26 Oct. 2025
Two hours later, they were handcuffed and taken for fingerprinting, and their hope grew stronger.
—Mosab Abu Toha, New Yorker, 24 Oct. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for handcuffed
Adjective
-
People eventually outgrow the helpless-baby stage.—
Anna Louie Sussman,
The Atlantic,
7 Nov. 2025
-
Without money and without a means to earn it, women are helpless to determine the course of their own lives.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
6 Nov. 2025
Verb
-
The restricted area is bounded by State Route 237 to the north, Calabazas Creek to the west, Highway 101 and Montague Expressway to the south and the Guadalupe River to the east.—
Grace Hase,
Mercury News,
6 Jan. 2026
-
The committee’s mission is to protect the quality of life within Oak Lawn, generally bounded within Woodall Rodgers Freeway, North Central Expressway, Highland Park, Inwood Road, Harry Hines Boulevard and Oak Lawn Avenue.—
Timia Cobb
Breaking News Reporter,
Dallas Morning News,
5 Jan. 2026
Verb
-
This isn’t the first time injuries have hampered Norfleet.—
Chase Gemes,
Kansas City Star,
7 Nov. 2025
-
All of these issues combined have left Target with a workforce that has grown faster than sales and a complex corporate structure that has hampered decision-making and created needless red tape.—
Gabrielle Fonrouge,Annie Palmer,Frank Holland,
CNBC,
4 Nov. 2025
Adjective
-
Clancy allegedly strangled her three children and then tried to kill herself by jumping out a window in 2023, leaving her paralyzed from the sternum down.—
Colleen Cronin,
Boston Herald,
7 Jan. 2026
-
Smith, an Arizona husband and father, is completely paralyzed and relies on a ventilator to breathe.—
Khloe Quill,
FOXNews.com,
5 Jan. 2026
Verb
-
The interface incorporates gamification elements such as badges, achievements, and cocktail discovery missions tied to different locations.—
Neetika Walter,
Interesting Engineering,
7 Jan. 2026
-
That’s the difference between having a mere below-average QB versus an awful one tied to your receiver.—
Michael Salfino,
New York Times,
7 Jan. 2026
Verb
-
As a result, the water vapor in that impeded breath condenses on the surface of your immediately-adjacent prescription glasses, sunglasses or ski goggles.—
New Atlas,
New Atlas,
5 Jan. 2026
-
Adding palbociclib, however, blocked this adaptation and impeded the cancer cells’ ability to survive.—
Khloe Quill,
FOXNews.com,
31 Dec. 2025
Adjective
-
New orders contracted for a fourth month and export bookings remained weak, based on the ISM data.—
Reade Pickert Bloomberg,
Arkansas Online,
6 Jan. 2026
-
Getting too little of either can lead to weak, brittle bones, and too much can also cause problems (like kidney stones or nausea).—
T'Keyah Bazin,
Verywell Health,
6 Jan. 2026
Verb
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Court process begins with hearing Both Mahmoud and Ali were shackled as they were escorted into court Monday, according to CNN reporters who attended the hearing.—
Chelsea Bailey,
CNN Money,
4 Nov. 2025
-
Last month, immigration authorities raided a Hyundai battery plant in Georgia, detained 300 South Korean workers and showed video of some of them shackled in chains.—
Emma Burleigh,
Fortune,
18 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Handcuffed.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/handcuffed. Accessed 10 Jan. 2026.
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