1
as in incapacitating
to cause severe or permanent injury to
the car crash may have crippled two people for life
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in damaging
to reduce the soundness, effectiveness, or perfection of
the collision so severely crippled the ship that it had to be towed into port
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in paralyzing
to render powerless, ineffective, or unable to move
a wave of strikes crippled that nation's steel industry
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in harm
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Dissimilar Words
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of crippling
Josh Dinner, Space.com, 31 Oct. 2025
On December 7, 1941, 353 Japanese aircraft attacked Pearl Harbor, killing 2,403 Americans and crippling much of the Pacific Fleet.
—Big Think, 20 Oct. 2025
Perreira agrees that the financial imbalance in the game is crippling West Indies.
—Paul Newman, New York Times, 1 Oct. 2025
Related Stories Pogachefsky is now suing 42West and his former employees, accusing them of crippling his company and scuttling his talks to sell the firm.
—Gene Maddaus, Variety, 22 Sep. 2025
While many may worry that lending financial support to their children may be crippling them or enabling them, nearly 77% of the parents surveyed do so with some kind of stipulation or contingency.
—Essence, 19 Sep. 2025
Deadly floods in Asia have devastated crops, crippling already fragile food production.
—Tom Chivers, semafor.com, 11 Sep. 2025
Thomas’ absence has been crippling for the Giants in recent years.
—Pat Leonard, New York Daily News, 19 Aug. 2025
More importantly, if just one lock were disabled or destroyed, the passage from east to west would be essentially inoperable, crippling the United States and its military defenses.
—Shoshi Parks, Popular Science, 14 Aug. 2025
Noun
Since then, they've been forced to work remotely — at a time when the government was doling out return-to-office mandates — preventing access to labs and crippling the center's mission of embedding NASA climate scientists within international academia.
—Josh Dinner, Space.com, 31 Oct. 2025
On December 7, 1941, 353 Japanese aircraft attacked Pearl Harbor, killing 2,403 Americans and crippling much of the Pacific Fleet.
—Big Think, 20 Oct. 2025
Perreira agrees that the financial imbalance in the game is crippling West Indies.
—Paul Newman, New York Times, 1 Oct. 2025
Related Stories Pogachefsky is now suing 42West and his former employees, accusing them of crippling his company and scuttling his talks to sell the firm.
—Gene Maddaus, Variety, 22 Sep. 2025
While many may worry that lending financial support to their children may be crippling them or enabling them, nearly 77% of the parents surveyed do so with some kind of stipulation or contingency.
—Essence, 19 Sep. 2025
Deadly floods in Asia have devastated crops, crippling already fragile food production.
—Tom Chivers, semafor.com, 11 Sep. 2025
Thomas’ absence has been crippling for the Giants in recent years.
—Pat Leonard, New York Daily News, 19 Aug. 2025
More importantly, if just one lock were disabled or destroyed, the passage from east to west would be essentially inoperable, crippling the United States and its military defenses.
—Shoshi Parks, Popular Science, 14 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for crippling
Verb
-
He is accused of slipping incapacitating drugs into victims’ food or drinks before assaulting them between 2021 and 2024.—
Sarah Rumpf-Whitten,
FOXNews.com,
16 Oct. 2025
-
While the name suggests something far more trivial, significant damage to the ligaments of the metatarsophalangeal joint can be incapacitating.—
Anthony Crupi,
Sportico.com,
15 Sep. 2025
Verb
-
Many on the left have been in an uproar of late, accusing Trump of damaging White House history as construction begins on a new White House ballroom.—
Ashley J. DiMella,
FOXNews.com,
25 Oct. 2025
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People have filmed themselves shaving their heads, damaging property, ripping up passports and setting themselves on fire, The Sun reported, citing Ekaterina Mizulina, head of the Safe Internet League.—
Bailey Richards,
PEOPLE,
25 Oct. 2025
Verb
-
Discipline without optimism is paralyzing.—
Big Think,
Big Think,
7 Oct. 2025
-
Shortly after Henry’s death, Augusta suffered two paralyzing strokes, intensifying her and Ed’s isolated, co-dependent relationship before her death in 1945.—
Andrew McGowan,
Variety,
3 Oct. 2025
Noun
-
No parents want to inflict emotional harm on their children, which is why most people strenuously avoid even getting snippy with their parents in front of the kids—and the guilt when an argument does break out can be immense.—
Sara Rowe Mount,
Parents,
30 Oct. 2025
-
Many people can gamble or play games of chance without harm.—
Jennifer Rodriguez,
Kansas City Star,
30 Oct. 2025
Verb
-
By enabling or disabling layers (layout, markers, heat map) and adjusting layer opacity, users get a clear, customizable view of what’s happening—and where to look next.—
IEEE Spectrum,
IEEE Spectrum,
30 Oct. 2025
-
The first biography of James Schuyler suggests that his tendency to withdraw was both a harbinger of his disabling mood disorder and the wellspring of his shimmering poetry.—
Langdon Hammer,
The New York Review of Books,
30 Oct. 2025
Verb
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Including playoffs, Mayfield turned the ball over more than anyone else from 2023 through 2024, marring an otherwise fantastic two seasons in Tampa Bay.—
Jacob Robinson,
New York Times,
10 Oct. 2025
-
An optional front rack on both models adds instant utility without marring the retro-fantastic looks.—
William Roberson,
Forbes.com,
17 Sep. 2025
Verb
-
As a result, parents who schedule vacations during the school year often find themselves at odds with both attendance policies and administrators like Johnson, who see such decisions as undermining classroom continuity and accountability.—
Daniella Gray,
MSNBC Newsweek,
31 Oct. 2025
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The Curse builds a complex internal mythology using clips from fake reality TV series and faux newscasts, steadily undermining the viewer's sense of reality by combining sinister figures from Japanese folklore with an overwhelming sense of impending doom.—
Katie Rife,
Entertainment Weekly,
29 Oct. 2025
Noun
-
Schabusiness was sentenced to life in prison after being convicted of murder, rape and mutilation back in 2023.—
Chris Spargo,
PEOPLE,
8 Oct. 2025
-
Jonathan Renteria was arrested on Sept. 11 and was charged with murder and the mutilation of human remains.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
26 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Crippling.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/crippling. Accessed 4 Nov. 2025.
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