crippled
Americanadjective
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Offensive.
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relating to a person who is partially or totally unable to use one or more limbs.
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relating to a person who is disabled or impaired in any way.
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not operating or performing at the customary level; impaired; weakened.
Significant progress has been made in repairing the crippled power plant.
A telecommunications firm has signed a deal to get their crippled company back in business.
Sensitive Note
Why is crippled offensive? See cripple ( def. ).
Other Word Forms
- uncrippled adjective
Etymology
Origin of crippled
First recorded in 1300–50; cripple ( def. ) (verb) + -ed 2 ( def. )
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
He said there were doctors in Oklahoma City that could take a crippled leg and straighten it out as straight as a ramrod.
From Literature
That promise wouldn’t change much—Iran is believed to have stopped enriching uranium after U.S. strikes crippled its main nuclear facilities in June—and falls short of U.S. demands that it halt enrichment altogether.
The failed campaigns left his father in financial and emotional turmoil that crippled his marriage when Newsom was a small boy.
From Los Angeles Times
World War II cemented the snack’s dominance: Sugar rationing crippled candy production, while popcorn, unrationed and still cheap, filled the void.
She said major issues with the officer’s credibility crippled both cases.
From Los Angeles Times
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
