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Synonyms

quadriplegic

American  
[kwod-ruh-plee-jik, -plej-ik] / ˌkwɒd rəˈpli dʒɪk, -ˈplɛdʒ ɪk /
Sometimes quadraplegic

adjective

  1. having quadriplegia; paralyzed from the neck down or in all four limbs as a result of disease or injury.


noun

  • quadriplegics
    plural
  1. a person who is paralyzed in this way.

quadriplegic British  
/ ˌkwɒdrɪˈpliːdʒɪk /

adjective

  1. of, relating to, or afflicted with qudriplegia

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

noun

  1. a person afflicted with quadriplegia

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

Etymology

Origin of quadriplegic

First recorded in 1960–65; quadripleg(ia) + -ic

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:

He fell into a coma, became incontinent and quadriplegic.

From Barron's ● Jan. 29, 2026

He learned his spinal cord had been severely crushed and that he was quadriplegic.

From BBC ● Jan. 24, 2026

Luis Cervantes chose to move home after recovering from a car accident that made him a quadriplegic.

From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 27, 2024

But I represented a young Black man who was quadriplegic whose elderly parents tried to help get him an ID several times, unsuccessfully.

From Slate ● Oct. 2, 2024

I sat one day with a man who’d gone off young and healthy to an overseas deployment, leaving behind a pregnant wife, and had come back quadriplegic, unable to move his arms or legs.

From "Becoming" by Michelle Obama

“There were seven of us high quadriplegics sitting in a circle telling our versions of the same story,” Salvini said, “which was a transformative experience that I wanted to replicate for others in similar situations.”

From Seattle Times ● Nov. 10, 2022

Of those, 44 were marked as related to paraplegics, quadriplegics, other types of wheelchair users and other assistive-device users.

From Washington Post ● Sep. 12, 2022

"What I really find a lot of pride in is I help quadriplegics all over America," Himan said.

From Fox News ● Oct. 12, 2021

Jackson and his wife visited Nepal last October and, after seeing the stark conditions paraplegics and quadriplegics endure in an otherwise beautiful country, he resolved to make a difference.

From The Guardian ● Apr. 3, 2019

Stand-alone eye trackers from Tobii and others can be connected to computers, for example, so that quadriplegics can operate an onscreen keyboard.

From New York Times ● Mar. 26, 2011

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