Paralyze

//ˈpæɹəlaɪz// verb

verb ·Moderate ·College level

Definitions

Verb
  1. 1
    To afflict with paralysis. transitive
  2. 2
    cause to be paralyzed and immobile wordnet
  3. 3
    To render unable to move; to immobilize. transitive

    "So I stood alone in horror / Paralyzed with fear and dread / When a voice dead and inhuman / Whispered to me "go, you fool, Warren's dead!""

  4. 4
    make powerless and unable to function wordnet
  5. 5
    To render unable to function properly. transitive

    "The transport strike paralyzed the city."

Synonyms

All synonyms
immobilizeamazeanesthetizeappallastonishastound

Example

More examples

"A vampire can paralyze people just by looking at them."

Etymology

From French paralyser.

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