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.
In yet another example of how the immigration raids had crippled attendance, some buses were nearly empty.
From Los Angeles Times
However, its economy has been crippled by years of mismanagement of the public finances, a fall in oil sales and biting international sanctions.
From BBC
It damaged 20 residential buildings and, crucially, crippled heating systems as temperatures dropped to about -11 degrees Celsius.
Her Imagination Library, inspired by her belief that her father had been “crippled” by illiteracy, has reportedly distributed some 300 million books to children.
An epic internet blackout that crippled airline IT systems and so much more?
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.
