adj, noun, verb ·3 syllables ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun

1. 1
   The act by which somebody or something is crippled. countable, uncountable

Verb

1. 1
   present participle and gerund of cripple form-of, gerund, participle, present

Adjective

1. 1
   That cripples or incapacitates

   "crippling depression"

2. 2
   Causing a severe and insurmountable problem; detrimental.

   "The high cost of capital has a crippling effect on many small firms."

3. 3
   Causing serious injuries, damage, or harm; damaging.

   "crippling debt"

Adjective

1. 1
   that cripples or disables or incapacitates wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms

bankruptcybreakagebreakdowncollapsecrack updamage

Example

More examples

"The devaluation of the currency dealt a crippling blow to the nation's economy."

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.