How to Use debilitating in a Sentence

debilitating

adjective
  • This book aims to be a guide on the path out of a debilitating illness.
    — Mary K. Tatum, Ms, Lmhc, Verywell Health, 14 July 2023
  • Then came a debilitating stroke for my mom and dementia for my dad.
    — Michelle Singletary, Washington Post, 1 Sep. 2023
  • For those in the early stages of Alzheimer’s, one-third will progress to a debilitating stage in about three years.
    — Bryant Stamford, The Courier-Journal, 16 May 2024
  • At the same time, his father fought to overcome the effects of a debilitating stroke.
    — Josh Hammer, Newsweek, 3 Dec. 2024
  • In the third, and most debilitating, patients withdraw from the world.
    — Literary Hub, 28 Apr. 2026
  • Yet that’s enough time to cause a debilitating chain reaction.
    — Blake Nelson, The Mercury News, 13 Oct. 2024
  • Perhaps even more debilitating is the domino effect on the next day’s bullpen.
    — Tony Blengino, Forbes.com, 2 Apr. 2025
  • Menopausal symptoms are more varied, and can be more debilitating, than many people know.
    — The New York Times, New York Times, 1 Feb. 2023
  • Some were forced to leave the workforce because their symptoms were so debilitating.
    — Olivia Gazis, CBS News, 1 Mar. 2023
  • Neuropathy is a debilitating type of pain caused by injury or damage to nerves.
    — Amy Brownstein, Ms, Rdn, Verywell Health, 7 Mar. 2025
  • Plus, damage to the brain can add up over time to even more serious and debilitating conditions.
    — Bruce Y. Lee, Forbes, 13 Sep. 2024
  • These conditions can affect muscles and joints and can be very debilitating.
    — Maria Loreto, chicagotribune.com, 24 Aug. 2020
  • But while some women fake it from time-to-time, for others the lack of ability to reach orgasm is a far more debilitating issue.
    — Sarah Sinclair, Forbes, 29 Mar. 2024
  • Not a debilitating loss for most Macs, but people with nearly full drives should at least think about offloading stuff to make some room.
    — Andrew Cunningham, Ars Technica, 26 Sep. 2023
  • The 49ers did not game-planning but appeared to get out of the game without a debilitating injury.
    — Jerry McDonald, The Mercury News, 12 Aug. 2024
  • Exa-cel frees patients from the debilitating and painful effects of this chronic, deadly disease.
    — Gina Kolata, New York Times, 31 Oct. 2023
  • For Cole, fatigue and brain fog are the most debilitating aspects of the condition.
    — Rachel Cohrs and Betsy Ladyzhets, STAT, 20 Apr. 2023
  • And while some headaches fade quickly with rest or a couple of over-the-counter pain pills, others can last for hours or even days and become downright debilitating.
    — Daryl Austin, USA Today, 21 Aug. 2025
  • By then, the debilitating effects of the Kryptonite were already taking its toll.
    — C.j. Holmes, New York Daily News, 17 May 2025
  • Worry is such a debilitating thing that robs you of your energy and distracts you of your concentration.
    — Georgia Nicols, Denver Post, 3 Apr. 2025
  • TIAs are often warning signs that a person is at risk for a more serious and debilitating stroke.
    — Vanessa Etienne, Peoplemag, 10 Aug. 2023
  • But more serious cases of burns and heatstroke, when people have been on the ground for minutes or hours, can be extremely debilitating.
    — Joshua Partlow, Anchorage Daily News, 14 July 2023
  • Tension headaches are the most common, and migraines usually cause the most debilitating symptoms.
    — Chelsea Rae Bourgeois, Rdn, Health, 23 Dec. 2024
  • But when she was waylaid by a debilitating loss of momentum, the issue of how to sustain her vocation took on greater urgency.
    — Meara Sharma, Washington Post, 9 July 2024
  • Low back pain can be at minimum annoying and at maximum debilitating.
    — Helen Carefoot, Flow Space, 8 Oct. 2025
  • However, the illness has taken a more debilitating physical toll on the wrestling legend than the name implies.
    — Andrew Ravens‎, MSNBC Newsweek, 26 Nov. 2025
  • Anyone who has ever suffered from a repetitive strain injury or carpal tunnel syndrome will know how debilitating and painful those kind of injuries can be.
    — Mark Sparrow, Forbes.com, 13 Aug. 2025
  • Austen and Tate lived together in a small apartment until Austen’s arthritis proved too debilitating.
    — Margaret Hetherman, NBC news, 19 Oct. 2025
  • The happy news was a welcome surprise after the singer suffered a debilitating stroke in 2013.
    — People Staff, Peoplemag, 11 May 2023
  • The Heat has always found a way to avoid the repeater tax, which is a debilitating place to be in terms of roster construction because of the higher tax rate that comes with it.
    — Anthony Chiang, Miami Herald, 8 May 2025

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'debilitating.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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