1
as in paralyzes
to render powerless, ineffective, or unable to move
the malfunctioning of a single component can incapacitate the engine
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in cripples
to cause severe or permanent injury to
the stroke left her completely incapacitated
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of incapacitates
Lorenzo confronts and incapacitates Pepe, Sonia’s main ally, before facing Sonia herself.
—
Isabella Wandermurem, Time, 24 Sep. 2025
Isabella Wandermurem, Time, 24 Sep. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for incapacitates
Verb
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Monster blizzard paralyzes Northeast with extreme snow, soaring power outages.—
,
FOXNews.com,
23 Feb. 2026
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For example, the curare plant poisons used by South and Central American hunters paralyzes the respiratory system.—
Andrew Paul,
Popular Science,
7 Jan. 2026
Verb
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The author takes an overnight Amtrak journey instead of a flight to Washington as the government shutdown cripples Atlanta’s airport.—
Bill Barrow,
Los Angeles Times,
30 Mar. 2026
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These pressures could produce a tsunami that fractures the state’s fiscal foundation, self-inflicts a crisis ultimately demanding drastic cuts, and cripples its competitiveness.—
Andrew Rein,
New York Daily News,
6 Jan. 2026
Verb
-
The lower court’s decisions invalidated a policy of prime importance to the President and his Administration in a manner that undermines our border security.—
Jenna Sundel,
MSNBC Newsweek,
30 Mar. 2026
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The defense secretary is upending decades-old norms, current and former leaders say, with some cautioning that his proselytizing violates the Constitution and undermines troop cohesion.—
Michelle Boorstein,
Washington Post,
29 Mar. 2026
Verb
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The MorphoScan is even missing a couple of quality-of-life features present on the Etekcity scale, including a safe mode for pregnant women and pacemaker users that disables the BIA electrical current for weight-only measurements.—
Andrew Gebhart,
PC Magazine,
5 Apr. 2026
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The use of shock waves, or blast overpressure (BOP), kills or disables enemies with the force of the explosion, vaporizing the weapon’s plastic outer shell.—
Brad Lendon,
CNN Money,
2 Apr. 2026
Verb
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In her desperation to ask Val for a job on the new sitcom, Sharon falls and injures herself.—
Louis Peitzman,
Vulture,
30 Mar. 2026
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Pool drain seriously injures girl Paloma Quatrini was just days away from her fourth birthday when the accident happened at an upscale resort in Mexico.—
Meghan Schiller,
CBS News,
16 Mar. 2026
Verb
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Chops, gouges, wounds it like the shadow grooves on the sidewalks—the sun is setting earlier.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
16 Mar. 2026
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Imperfect fleshly reality occupies the stage, the region where bones crack and wounds suppurate, schlumpy humans fall for each other, and jealousy roams murderously free.—
Justin Davidson,
Vulture,
11 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Incapacitates.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/incapacitates. Accessed 7 Apr. 2026.
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