paralyzes

verb

present tense third-person singular of paralyze
1
as in cripples
to render powerless, ineffective, or unable to move a blizzard paralyzed the city for two days

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in frightens
to deprive of courage or confidence the school board is paralyzed by the threat of lawsuits for just about everything

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 paralyzes During REM sleep, one of the periods of rest when dreams are most likely, the brainstem paralyzes the body’s muscles, except, of course, those that move our eyes and keep us breathing. — Rj MacKenzie, Popular Science, 29 Oct. 2026 Kosowski, prosecutors theorized, killed Cozzi with succinylcholine, a fast-acting drug that paralyzes muscles, and threw his body in a Collier County dumpster during a drive to Miami. — Grethel Aguila, Miami Herald, 23 Sep. 2026 The wasp gets its name from its reproductive cycle, where a female paralyzes a tarantula to serve as a live host for her larva. — Sean Donnelly, USA Today, 17 Sep. 2026 Fear, like ignorance, shuts our eyes to and paralyzes our trust in God’s omnipotence, omniscience, and unfailing love for His children, whereas the understanding of God’s ever-present goodness removes the fear that generates suffering. — André Kisonga, Christian Science Monitor, 30 June 2026 These opportunists drown out the core mission, creating a cacophony of competing voices that confuses donors, crowd the inboxes of CEOs and members of Congress with colliding petitions, and paralyzes meaningful action by draining critical funding and attention away from the truly effective groups. — Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, Time, 28 June 2026 In fact, too much choice often paralyzes decision-making. — David Meade, Forbes.com, 14 May 2026 Once an octopus ambushes and bites its prey, the venom in its saliva paralyzes the prey, allowing the octopus to consume it. — Encyclopedia Britannica, 6 Mar. 2026 Monster blizzard paralyzes Northeast with extreme snow, soaring power outages. — FOXNews.com, 23 Feb. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for paralyzes
  1. cripples
  2. frightens
  3. incapacitates
  4. terrifies
  5. undermines
  6. scares
  7. weakens
  8. intimidates
Verb
  • According to official figures, even when the thermometer plummets to minus 22 °F (-30 °C), a situation that cripples most electric vehicles, the Atto 8 can still execute a 20 % to 97% charge in just 12 minutes.
    — New Atlas, New Atlas, 17 Oct. 2026
  • Federal illegality further cripples operations with banking and tax burdens.
    — Peter Su, Forbes.com, 20 June 2026
Definition of cripples
Verb
  • The prospect of Sean Steur or Lewis Hall — whose contract situation Wilson refused to be drawn on, despite being asked three times — leaving is not something which frightens the hierarchy.
    — Chris Waugh, New York Times, 8 Sep. 2026
  • Penelope, too, is asked to occupy a landscape that frightens her, not only as a neurodivergent child in a neurotypical culture, but as a child now situated in an adult world.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 21 Aug. 2026
Definition of frightens
Verb
  • The Martian tells the story of astronaut Mark Watney, who becomes stranded on Mars after a dust storm incapacitates him.
    — Jeff Spry, Space.com, 28 May 2026
  • Lorenzo confronts and incapacitates Pepe, Sonia’s main ally, before facing Sonia herself.
    — Isabella Wandermurem, Time, 24 Sep. 2025
Definition of incapacitates
Verb
  • Watch On In this Canadian cult classic that doubles as a coming-of-age story, a sardonic goth transforms into a werewolf in the days leading up to Halloween and terrifies her younger sister.
    — David Faris, TheWeek, 22 Oct. 2026
  • Black Palace is set in 1888 London as an emerging tabloid media terrifies the public with lurid stories of infamous serial killer Jack the Ripper.
    — Stewart Clarke, Deadline, 8 Sep. 2026
Definition of terrifies
Verb
  • Using words like ghosts or spirits undermines what these entities actually are.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 2 Nov. 2026
  • This not only calls into question how much extra food China truly has but also undermines public confidence in the government.
    — JOEL WUTHNOW, Foreign Affairs, 2 Nov. 2026
Definition of undermines
Verb
  • Before their conversation can go any further, Morgan scares himself by remembering that tabloids used to tap celebrities’ phones to get gossip fodder, and hangs up on her.
    — Rafaela Bassili, Vulture, 6 Nov. 2026
  • Dozens of other Halloween 2026 events in Metro Detroit are listed in the CBS News Detroit treats and scares roundup.
    — Jack Springgate, CBS News, 14 Oct. 2026
Definition of scares
Verb
  • El Niño is a tropical Pacific climate pattern that weakens trade winds, shifts jet streams, and can increase the risk of flooding, droughts, and wildfires.
    — Cindy Carcamo, Christian Science Monitor, 2 Nov. 2026
  • And perhaps most importantly, gerrymandering weakens accountability.
    — Bobby Zirkin, Baltimore Sun, 1 Nov. 2026
Definition of weakens
Verb
  • What intimidates some potential patients, though, is the fact that Botox is derived from botulinum toxin A — a toxic substance which, if mishandled, can lead to death.
    — Norah O'Donnell, CBS News, 4 Nov. 2026
  • Melanie Melanie came to this reunion prepared with both facts and a prosecutorial confrontation style that effectively intimidates all of her on-stage opponents.
    — Kathleen Walsh, Vulture, 1 Sep. 2026
Definition of intimidates

Browse Nearby Words

paralyzed
paralyzes
paralyzing
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Paralyzes.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/paralyzes. Accessed 13 Nov. 2026.

Copy Citation
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

How to Use 'Who' vs. 'Whom'

31 Useful Rhetorical Devices

More Commonly Misspelled Words

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

Great Big List of Beautiful and Useless Words, Vol. 5

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

The Longest Long Words List

The Words of the Week - Nov. 13

Even More Bird Names that Sound Like Insults (and Sometimes Are)
See More

Popular

See More

How to Use 'Who' vs. 'Whom'

Great Big List of Beautiful and Useless Words, Vol. 5

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
woman sitting on floor holding book in front of her face on pink background
Famous Novels, Last Lines Quiz Needless to say, spoiler alert.
See All