incapacitate
Americanverb (used with object)
-
incapacitates,
present (3rd person singular)
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incapacitated,
past participle, past
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incapacitating
present participle
verb
-
to deprive of power, strength, or capacity; disable
-
to deprive of legal capacity or eligibility
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
incapacitatesimple
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incapacitatessimple
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have incapacitatedperfect
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has incapacitatedperfect
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am incapacitatingprogressive
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are incapacitatingprogressive
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is incapacitatingprogressive
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have been incapacitatingperfect progressive
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has been incapacitatingperfect progressive
Past
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incapacitatedsimple
-
had incapacitatedperfect
-
was incapacitatingprogressive
-
were incapacitatingprogressive
-
had been incapacitatingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of incapacitate
First recorded in 1650–60; incapacit(y) + -ate 1
Explanation
If you are incapacitated, you can’t do what you normally do, what you’re being asked to do — or perhaps, much of anything. To incapacitate someone is to cause him or her to be unable to function normally, like a bad cold that incapacitates you. The verb incapacitate is related to the word capacity. Capacity comes from the Latin word capacitas, meaning “that can contain,” or how much something — brain, bucket or otherwise — can hold. The prefix in- reverses the meaning and when the suffix -ate is added, incapacitate means someone has been made unable to “contain” much — like attention, effort, or energy.
Vocabulary lists containing incapacitate
Uglies
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Children of Blood and Bone
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Artemis Fowl
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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:
“Viruses that are extremely lethal often tend to self-contain because they quickly kill or incapacitate their hosts,” said James, who now works with Australia’s Southern Cross University.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 6, 2026
Electroshock weapons are designed to temporarily incapacitate suspects with a shock before police detain them.
From Barron's ● Feb. 19, 2026
He described them as a "highly intelligent" and "active predator" equipped with "specialised glands that produce venom to incapacitate its prey".
From BBC ● Jan. 21, 2026
Department officials have said repeatedly that, despite increased crisis intervention training and new “less-lethal” weapons designed to incapacitate rather than kill, officers are not always equipped to handle most mental health calls.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 5, 2024
If that black smoke could incapacitate Leo so quickly, what chance did she have?
From "The House of Hades" by Rick Riordan
You know, that thing that occasionally incapacitates him with guilt.
From Salon ● May 15, 2023
“I said to Ginzburg, ‘Why don’t we ask a few psychiatrists whether a nervous breakdown incapacitates someone for public office?’”
From New York Times ● Mar. 21, 2023
The designated survivor is the member of the Cabinet who remains outside the Capitol during the State of the Union in case a disaster incapacitates those in line for the presidency.
From Washington Times ● Mar. 1, 2022
Unless boxers are allowed to fight until one physically incapacitates the other — which is the way they actually competed at the ancient Olympic Games in 688 B.C. — decisions are an unfortunate necessity.
From Seattle Times ● Aug. 1, 2021
In this state I am expected to eat it, and, being in great awe and fear of the inhabitants, I proceed to do so, which incapacitates me for further epistolatory effort.
From Us and the Bottleman by Edith Ballinger Price
‘We fear financial exploitation’: Who will manage our finances if my wife and I become incapacitated?
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 29, 2026
In “Verity,” she plays the titular character, Verity Crawford, the author of a string of hit thriller novels who’s been mysteriously incapacitated after a car accident and can’t finish her final three books.
From Salon ● Oct. 9, 2026
At least 19 states, including New York, have a higher bar for the level of intoxication required to deem someone incapacitated and unable to consent.
From BBC ● Oct. 6, 2026
If you and your wife were to die or become incapacitated, a successor trustee could step in and manage the trust assets without the need for court supervision.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 9, 2026
They wanted to think that he was incapacitated, injured, unable to make it to the phone.
From "The Chocolate War" by Robert Cormier
The denial of care, Kingdom says, made her gender dysphoria become incapacitating.
From Slate ● Oct. 21, 2026
The Timms report finds that there’s been a surge in Brits under age 40 collecting benefits for incapacitating ADHD, autism, anxiety or depression.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 10, 2026
CS spray is a man-made incapacitating gas - exposure to it causes a burning sensation in the eyes and watering.
From BBC ● Mar. 18, 2026
Hahn takes the role to complex emotional heights, infusing the character with a wicked sense of humor and incapacitating vulnerability.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 7, 2023
This represents the kinds of things that must be done after the fact, in efforts to compensate for the incapacitating effects of certain diseases whose course one is unable to do very much about.
From "The Lives of a Cell" by Lewis Thomas
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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.
