1
as in paralyzing
to render powerless, ineffective, or unable to move
the malfunctioning of a single component can incapacitate the engine
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in crippling
to cause severe or permanent injury to
the stroke left her completely incapacitated
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Recent Examples of incapacitating
One of four passengers in Bain’s car, 22-year-old Destiny Betts, suffered incapacitating injuries and was transported to the Ryder Trauma Center at Jackson Memorial from the scene, according to the report.
—
Jordan McPherson, Miami Herald, 13 Apr. 2026
The defendant at the trial, Fireman’s Fund Insurance Company, argued that its policy covered only losses resulting from a medically verified, incapacitating illness.
—Nancy Dillon, Rolling Stone, 10 Mar. 2026
Larter's Angela has been put through the wringer on the second season of Landman, from getting into an explosive battle with Thornton's Tommy over her period to getting arrested for incapacitating two health inspectors during a visit to her local nursing home.
—Emlyn Travis, Entertainment Weekly, 15 Jan. 2026
Dysentery and scurvy ravaged the vessel, killing or incapacitating many on board.
—The Week Uk, TheWeek, 8 Jan. 2026
Documentation is required to show incapacitating injury and illness.
—Ralph D. Russo, New York Times, 6 Jan. 2026
The only way to repair the rift and deal with the incapacitating grief is through art.
—James Shapiro, The Atlantic, 1 Dec. 2025
He is accused of slipping incapacitating drugs into victims’ food or drinks before assaulting them between 2021 and 2024.
—Sarah Rumpf-Whitten, FOXNews.com, 16 Oct. 2025
While the name suggests something far more trivial, significant damage to the ligaments of the metatarsophalangeal joint can be incapacitating.
—Anthony Crupi, Sportico.com, 15 Sep. 2025
Jordan McPherson, Miami Herald, 13 Apr. 2026
The defendant at the trial, Fireman’s Fund Insurance Company, argued that its policy covered only losses resulting from a medically verified, incapacitating illness.
—Nancy Dillon, Rolling Stone, 10 Mar. 2026
Larter's Angela has been put through the wringer on the second season of Landman, from getting into an explosive battle with Thornton's Tommy over her period to getting arrested for incapacitating two health inspectors during a visit to her local nursing home.
—Emlyn Travis, Entertainment Weekly, 15 Jan. 2026
Dysentery and scurvy ravaged the vessel, killing or incapacitating many on board.
—The Week Uk, TheWeek, 8 Jan. 2026
Documentation is required to show incapacitating injury and illness.
—Ralph D. Russo, New York Times, 6 Jan. 2026
The only way to repair the rift and deal with the incapacitating grief is through art.
—James Shapiro, The Atlantic, 1 Dec. 2025
He is accused of slipping incapacitating drugs into victims’ food or drinks before assaulting them between 2021 and 2024.
—Sarah Rumpf-Whitten, FOXNews.com, 16 Oct. 2025
While the name suggests something far more trivial, significant damage to the ligaments of the metatarsophalangeal joint can be incapacitating.
—Anthony Crupi, Sportico.com, 15 Sep. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for incapacitating
Verb
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Dawood said she's gone through paralyzing panic attacks and intense therapy.—
Sara Moniuszko,
USA Today,
28 Apr. 2026
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According to some experts, this paralyzing fear and desperation are factors that scammers exploit to put their criminal schemes into action.—
Albinson Linares,
NBC news,
26 Apr. 2026
Verb
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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
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Eden outlined how, by crippling universities over charges of antisemitism, McMahon could also achieve larger goals.—
Zach Helfand,
New Yorker,
20 Apr. 2026
Verb
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Satellite redundancy reshapes the economics of orbital conflict The logic of disabling a network by targeting a few critical satellites is increasingly obsolete.—
Bojan Stojkovski,
Interesting Engineering,
26 Apr. 2026
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Bright lives in a small town far out on Colorado’s prairie and has several disabling medical conditions.—
Josh Boak,
Los Angeles Times,
23 Apr. 2026
Verb
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Drone debris also fell on a roof of a residential building in the city of Samara, wounding a number of people, Fedorishchev said.—
Hanna Arhirova,
Los Angeles Times,
23 Apr. 2026
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Local and federal law enforcement agencies responded to the Mall of Louisiana in Baton Rouge, Thursday, after gunfire broke out inside the shopping center's food court, killing at least one person and wounding several more.—
Alexandra Koch,
FOXNews.com,
23 Apr. 2026
Verb
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Based on preliminary data from the CHP’s Statewide Integrated Traffic Records System, more than 110,000 crashes resulted from unsafe speeds, leading to more than 400 deaths and injuring more than 68,000 people, the agency said.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
28 Apr. 2026
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As Sousa-Martins drove forward, another agent shot at him 13 times, injuring Sousa-Martins as well as Solomon Antonio Serrano-Esquivel, a passenger in one of the ICE vehicles who was already in federal custody.—
Lily Carey,
Baltimore Sun,
27 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Incapacitating.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/incapacitating. Accessed 30 Apr. 2026.
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