1
as in to paralyze
to render powerless, ineffective, or unable to move
the malfunctioning of a single component can incapacitate the engine
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2
as in to cripple
to cause severe or permanent injury to
the stroke left her completely incapacitated
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of incapacitate
By setting up permissions in advance, the agent (individual with the power to act on behalf of someone else) can step in immediately if the account owner is incapacitated.
—
Kristin McKenna, Forbes.com, 10 Sep. 2025
In addition to grandmaster status, Myers is also a fourth degree in hosinsool, a self-defense technique used to protect, disarm and incapacitate an attacker, focusing on practicality to end a dangerous situation quickly with powerful strikes, locks and take-downs.
—Nicole Stracek, Twin Cities, 8 Sep. 2025
The Justice Department in its June 2024 report on problems with policing in Phoenix found that police delayed medical assistance to people who appeared to be incapacitated as a result of the use of force by officers and used unreasonable force on people who had already been wounded by officers.
—Elena Santa Cruz, AZCentral.com, 3 Sep. 2025
To write one’s way out of the incapacitating dependence of daughterhood into autonomy means shedding the unquestioning fidelity of a child.
—Rebecca Mead, New Yorker, 3 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for incapacitate
Kristin McKenna, Forbes.com, 10 Sep. 2025
In addition to grandmaster status, Myers is also a fourth degree in hosinsool, a self-defense technique used to protect, disarm and incapacitate an attacker, focusing on practicality to end a dangerous situation quickly with powerful strikes, locks and take-downs.
—Nicole Stracek, Twin Cities, 8 Sep. 2025
The Justice Department in its June 2024 report on problems with policing in Phoenix found that police delayed medical assistance to people who appeared to be incapacitated as a result of the use of force by officers and used unreasonable force on people who had already been wounded by officers.
—Elena Santa Cruz, AZCentral.com, 3 Sep. 2025
To write one’s way out of the incapacitating dependence of daughterhood into autonomy means shedding the unquestioning fidelity of a child.
—Rebecca Mead, New Yorker, 3 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for incapacitate
Recent Examples of Synonyms for incapacitate
Verb
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Because her brother is paralyzed after an attack on a Charlotte Area Transit System bus in March.—
Andrew Dys,
Charlotte Observer,
15 Sep. 2025
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Congress does not fail to act on guns because it is paralyzed.—
John J. Donohue,
MSNBC Newsweek,
12 Sep. 2025
Verb
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Killing, Corrupting, and Exiling of Science Under Hitler Widely regarded as the world’s research powerhouse in the 1920s and early 30s, German science was crippled by the Nazis starting in 1933, when Hitler gained power as Chancellor.—
Scott Montgomery,
Forbes.com,
15 Sep. 2025
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Deadly floods in Asia have devastated crops, crippling already fragile food production.—
Tom Chivers,
semafor.com,
11 Sep. 2025
Verb
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This slow adoption stems from a low tolerance for errors, past disappointments with AI and a belief that years of legal training shouldn't be undermined by machine learning—all valid perspectives widely discussed in the industry.—
Matthew Sole,
Forbes.com,
18 Sep. 2025
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Here's one simple mistake that can undermine all your pasta-making efforts.—
Katie Rosenhouse,
Southern Living,
17 Sep. 2025
Verb
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Most recently, he was badly injured after a high–speed car crash in New Hampshire in August.—
Washington Examiner Staff,
The Washington Examiner,
18 Sep. 2025
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Two Fort Worth firefighters were injured while battling a two-alarm fire at the house.—
Shambhavi Rimal,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
18 Sep. 2025
Verb
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Many more were maimed, and almost all the carnage was the direct and intended result of Iran’s nascent Axis.—
Graeme Wood,
The Atlantic,
2 Sep. 2025
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Over 45,000 children have been maimed.—
Sarah Ferguson,
Forbes.com,
22 Aug. 2025
Verb
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That same day, a student opened fire at a Colorado high school, critically wounding two peers.—
Juliana Kim,
NPR,
17 Sep. 2025
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In the past two years, more than 10% of the population has been killed or wounded - including tens of thousands of children - and that number only continues to rise.—
Saajan Jogia,
MSNBC Newsweek,
17 Sep. 2025
Verb
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The company's upcoming controls will allow parents to link their ChatGPT account with their teen's via email, set blackout hours for when their teen can't use the chatbot, manage which features to disable, guide how the chatbot responds and receive notifications if the teen is in acute distress.—
Ashley Capoot,
CNBC,
16 Sep. 2025
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Sturm hasn’t been disabled anywhere but Trials of Osiris at this point, but that may change soon.—
Paul Tassi,
Forbes.com,
16 Sep. 2025
Verb
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Utah police on Friday arrested Tyler Robinson for allegedly killing right-wing activist Charlie Kirk, although his potential motive remains hazy.—
Claire Cameron,
semafor.com,
14 Sep. 2025
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Key Background Zarutska, a 23-year-old Ukrainian refugee, was killed in an unprovoked attack on a commuter rail in Charlotte, North Carolina, in August.—
Zachary Folk,
Forbes.com,
14 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Incapacitate.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/incapacitate. Accessed 20 Sep. 2025.
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