special-needs

adjective

Definition of special-needsnext
as in disabled

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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 special-needs The couple had a son, Colin, and founded The Denver Foundation to help special-needs children after Colin was diagnosed with severe autism. — Sophie Clausen, PEOPLE, 6 Aug. 2026 Those organizations then help students access educational opportunities ranging from tutoring and special-needs services to career training, educational technology, dual-enrollment courses and private school tuition where appropriate. — Jeffrey S. Trimbath, Baltimore Sun, 28 June 2026 Reliability becomes even more critical in special-needs transportation environments, where coordination, communication, and timing often carry heightened importance for students, caregivers, and school systems. — Malana Vantyler, USA Today, 2 June 2026 The great thing about Coverdell accounts is that they can be used before college for expenses like private school, tutoring, uniforms, and even special-needs services. — Sarah Scott, Parents, 2 June 2026 One minute, my paintings were going to HSS; the next, to foster homes — no, schools for special-needs kids. — Blake Crisses, Rolling Stone, 17 May 2026 Alejandro was non-verbal and had attended Greater Heights Academy, a West Kendall school for special-needs children. — Grethel Aguila, Miami Herald, 12 May 2026 From there, families often consider tools like a special-needs trust. — Bruce Helmer, Twin Cities, 25 Apr. 2026 While the district’s overall student enrollment has declined dramatically in recent years, the special-needs population has actually increased, advocates noted. — Scott Travis, Sun Sentinel, 21 Apr. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for special-needs
  1. ailing
  2. incapacitated
  3. unfit
  4. disabled
  5. quadriplegic
  6. unwell
  7. paraplegic
  8. sick
Adjective
  • Heel Moxley pounced on an ailing Nick Jackson and hit a piledriver on the outside.
    — Alfred Konuwa, Forbes.com, 26 July 2026
  • Perhaps unsurprisingly, subsequent attempts at diplomacy, led by the ailing diplomat and intellectual Benjamin Franklin, also proved ineffective.
    — Sarah M.S. Pearsall, The Conversation, 2 July 2026
Definition of ailing
Adjective
  • Prosecutors, who had sought seven years and seven months in jail, said that the four women accusing him of rape, in both the proven and unproven cases, had each time been too unconscious or too incapacitated to resist him after attending parties.
    — Gwladys Fouche, USA Today, 15 June 2026
  • The spoof comedy parodied 1970s disaster films and followed Hays' character, who must overcome his fear of flying to land a commercial jet when its crew and passengers become incapacitated by food poisoning.
    — Virginia Chamlee, PEOPLE, 12 June 2026
Definition of incapacitated
Adjective
  • His reelection campaign has been rocked by the allegations made by his ex-wife, Emily Moreno, and her senator dad, who says Miller is unfit to serve in Congress.
    — Dave Goldiner, New York Daily News, 13 Aug. 2026
  • Indeed, the representatives of that Government assert that the people of Hawaii are unfit for popular government and frankly avow that they can be best ruled by arbitrary or despotic power.
    — Britannica Editors, Encyclopedia Britannica, 11 Aug. 2026
Definition of unfit
Adjective
  • Her backstory is littered with half-truths and deceptions, including a lie that her mentally disabled younger sister was murdered after being kidnapped.
    — Cheyenne Roundtree, Rolling Stone, 11 Aug. 2026
  • In addition to simulating the dispersal of defense production, Taiwan is throttling the island’s mobile network to show civilians what happens when internet services are disabled.
    — Brendan Ruberry, semafor.com, 11 Aug. 2026
Definition of disabled
Adjective
  • Some were recovering from surgery; others were quadriplegic or in palliative care.
    — Rachel Nuwer, Quanta Magazine, 17 July 2026
  • Aariana Rose Philip is an Antiguan American model and musician who has quadriplegic cerebral palsy.
    — Aariana Rose Philip, Vogue, 4 May 2026
Definition of quadriplegic
Adjective
  • Pauline Ferrand-Prévôt pulled out of the race shortly before the stage after feeling unwell.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 8 Aug. 2026
  • After determining Descamps was too unwell to spend the night in jail, police officers challenged the hospital's decision to discharge him.
    — Brian Mann, NPR, 6 Aug. 2026
Definition of unwell
Adjective
  • On the island, the team makes the acquaintance of Rex (Hayden Chamberlain), a paraplegic dog who has been stranded there for two years and in that time has befriended the dinosaurs and constructed an elaborate treehouse for himself.
    — Caspar Salmon, Variety, 7 Aug. 2026
  • Others are blind or paraplegic, using wheelchairs, walkers or canes, like her.
    — Rachel Hale, USA Today, 4 Aug. 2026
Definition of paraplegic
Adjective
  • People without risk factors generally do not get sick or display symptoms from Candida auris.
    — Stephen Underwood, Hartford Courant, 10 Aug. 2026
  • The river boat passenger had become sick and disembarked nearly three weeks ago in Pimu, in the province of Mongala, more than 1,000 kilometers from Kinshasa along the Congo River, Africa CDC Director-General Jean Kaseya said on Thursday.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 9 Aug. 2026
Definition of sick

Browse Nearby Words

specially
special-needs
specialness
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Cite this Entry

“Special-needs.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/special-needs. Accessed 15 Aug. 2026.

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