Skip to main content
Glite Dictionary
🛑 To weaken badly ♿ A disabled person 🦽 To disable
cripple

cripple

50 9.1
An offensive old word for a person who cannot walk properly because of a leg or back injury
  • noun
  • /ˈkrɪpəl/
  • Slur
translation icon : lisiado
  • Many people don't understand the challenges faced by a cripple trying to navigate public spaces.

Then we were in Mexico, had an amazing bit of sun and then we got home and I have been a cripple.

Examples

  • The charity works to support children who are born as cripples and help them live fulfilling lives.

  • Has the cripple been fed?

    Movie 43 (2013)

  • I'll take care of the cripple.

    Shadow Man (2006)

  • The cripple here wants to collect your gambling debts.

    Bound by Honor (1993)

  • The village doctor informs him that he will be a cripple for life.

    Academic text (2007)

  • "I've proved now that, even though I'm a cripple, I can be successful."

    Fiction book (1992)

  • Mr. Pendleton was a cripple; his body hunched and crumpled like an aluminum can.

    Fiction book (1994)

  • After the accident, he worried that he might become a cripple and depend on others for help.

Synonyms

quadriplegic
vscripple
12 8.1

A person who cannot move their arms and legs, often after a spinal cord injury

is a broad offensive label for inability to walk rather than a specific diagnosis
paraplegic
vscripple
8 6.8

A person who has no movement or feeling in the lower body because of a spine injury

is an offensive general term for people unable to walk from leg or back injury
limper
vscripple
1 7.4

A person who walks with difficulty because of pain or injury

is an offensive term for people unable to walk due to leg or back injury
hobbler
vscripple
8.9

A person who walks with a limp and an unsteady step

is an offensive general term for people unable to walk rather than just limping

Antonyms

able-bodied
30 4.2

A person who is physically strong and healthy

Compounds

emotional cripple
  • Slur
1 9.6

An insulting way to describe a person who has trouble feeling or showing feelings because of past hurt

Surface Forms

cripple singular
cripples plural

Etymology

Cripple comes from an old English word crypel meaning 'lame', a word once used for someone who could not walk well. A helpful way to remember this is that it originally described physical disability, but today the noun cripple is highly offensive and should be avoided.