paralyze
Americanverb (used with object)
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paralyzes,
present (3rd person singular)
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paralyzed,
past participle, past
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paralyzing
present participle
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to affect with paralysis.
-
to bring to a condition of helpless stoppage, inactivity, or inability to act.
The strike paralyzed communications.
Synonym Usage
See shock 1.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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paralyzationnoun
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paralyzernoun
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paralyzantadjective
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semiparalyzedadjective
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unparalyzedadjective
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paralyzinglyadverb
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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paralyzesimple
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paralyzessimple
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have paralyzedperfect
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has paralyzedperfect
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am paralyzingprogressive
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are paralyzingprogressive
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is paralyzingprogressive
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have been paralyzingperfect progressive
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has been paralyzingperfect progressive
Past
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paralyzedsimple
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had paralyzedperfect
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was paralyzingprogressive
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were paralyzingprogressive
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had been paralyzingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of paralyze
First recorded in 1795–1805; back formation from paralysis, modeled on analyze
Explanation
Use the verb paralyze to describe something that makes it impossible to move or function, like a snowstorm that threatens to paralyze a city. Accent the first syllable in paralyze: "PA-ruh-lies." Until 1805, the only way to paralyze someone was physically — the word was used to indicate that a person had lost the ability to move their body, often as a result of an accident of illness. More recently, the definition has widened to include figurative uses like being "paralyzed by fear." It doesn't mean you are literally immobilized — just that you are so scared, it feels that way.
Vocabulary lists containing paralyze
Schooled
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Where the Red Fern Grows
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List 6
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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.
See Examples For:
But Taiwanese defense experts have taken away a different lesson: cheap equipment from a lesser military, such as dumb mines thrown in a strait, may just be enough to paralyze a superpower.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 10, 2026
The Lewiatan Confederation, an NGO representing Polish entrepreneurs, argues the move "could paralyze the labour market".
From Barron's ● Jan. 20, 2026
A severe conflict may paralyze the business and destroy morale among employees.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 3, 2025
The treatment uses a combination of suction and heat to destroy the sweat glands, rather than just paralyze them.
From Slate ● Aug. 27, 2024
Then she placed her hands, vertically, over her eyes and pressed the heels hard, as though to paralyze the optic nerve and drown all images into a voidlike black.
From "Franny and Zooey" by J. D. Salinger
Meanwhile, Salieri’s invisible seething paralyzes him, turning into the punishment he believes God inflicted on him.
From Salon ● May 16, 2026
However, once triggered in this context, the response effectively paralyzes the cells.
From Science Daily ● Jan. 20, 2026
Levamisole paralyzes them, whereas the newly discovered small molecule—dubbed selectivin—kills them outright.
From Science Magazine ● May 25, 2023
This hopelessness paralyzes public critique, enabling tech companies to proceed unchecked.
From Slate ● May 4, 2023
It paralyzes me for a moment, but then I continue roving forward.
From "A Rover's Story" by Jasmine Warga
When the New York Stock Exchange reopened on Monday, Sept. 17, 2001, it signaled the world that America’s financial markets wouldn’t be paralyzed by terrorism.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 11, 2026
She then jumped out of a second-story window, leaving her paralyzed from the waist down and using a wheelchair.
From Barron's ● Aug. 28, 2026
A stroke in 2012 left him partially paralyzed, interrupting a busy acting career.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 26, 2026
She was also battling back from a severe lower back injury that left her almost paralyzed last year.
From Salon ● Aug. 17, 2026
As she wrote paraplegic, Mrs. Olinski spelled it out, "P-A-R-A-P-L-E-G-I-C. It means that I am paralyzed from the waist down."
From "The View From Saturday" by E.L. Konigsburg
FARGO, N.D.—Oak Reile was delivering a pallet of washer fluid, cigarettes and candy to a local convenience store in 2020 when he slipped and fell, breaking two vertebrae and paralyzing him from the armpits down.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 2, 2026
Paz is facing paralyzing country-wide protests and calls for his resignation.
From Barron's ● Jun. 4, 2026
The siblings begin to awaken to the possibility of their liberation, from both the Communist regime and the paralyzing taboos of their aristocratic upbringing.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 8, 2026
Millions of Americans were facing dangerously cold temperatures Monday in the wake of a massive winter storm that whipped snow and ice across the country, knocking out power and paralyzing transportation.
From Barron's ● Jan. 26, 2026
I was jacked up on adrenaline, unsure of what to do next, overcome by a paralyzing mixture of fear and rage.
From "Ready Player One: A Novel" by Ernest Cline
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
