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palsied

palsied

1 9.9
Having muscles that shake or cannot move
  • adjective
  • /ˈpɔːlzid/
translation icon : paralítico
  • The elderly man spoke slowly, his voice tremulous and palsied, reflecting the toll of his illness.
  • palsied hand
  • palsied old man
  • shake as though palsied

Let's say the right ear is the palsied ear, OK.

Examples

  • The old beggar himself, even if inadvertently, is blessed by feeding the small mountain birds who take crumbs of food scattered by his palsied hand.

    Academic text (1997)
  • He takes the form with a palsied hand, so the form shakes.

    Fiction book (1995)
  • I walked in and saw this palsied man sitting there and I went up to him and l touched him.

  • The cops wrestle him to the floor, but his palsied thrashing continues.

    Fiction book (1996)
  • Instead, Beauchamp, white as a ghost, stammered and pointed with a palsied hand.

    Fiction book (1996)
  • He would type a sentence, his palsied hands stabbing at the keyboard, and then she would respond.

    Fiction book (2002)
  • I am emaciated, palsied, hostile, hopeful in the shamefaced way of hopeless people.

    Blog text (13)
  • She is caught in a palsied movement—to stay or leave, stay or leave—it's driving her crazy.

    Fiction book (2001)
  • All but the firmest of friends were frightened by the later years—the unrecognizable, bloated face, the lumpy body, the voice that sounded palsied.

    Fiction book (1997)
  • The therapist gently held her patient's palsied hand to reassure him during the session.

Synonyms

paralyzed
vspalsied
  • US
1 4.2

Not able to do anything, often because of injury or fear

can include tremor or partial muscle problems rather than full immobility
paralytical
vspalsied
  • Specialized
9.3

Relating to or causing a loss of movement in part of the body

is used for being actually affected by tremor or muscle weakness
paretic
vspalsied
  • Specialized
9.9

Having partial paralysis that makes movement weak

covers full or tremor related muscle loss not only partial weakness

Antonyms

1.0

Having great physical power or being solid enough to resist force

695 1.0

In good body and mind condition without sickness or injury

Surface Forms

palsied positive

Morphology

palsied = palsy (transparent) = palsy + ed

Formed by the regular adjectival -ed on the noun 'palsy', yielding 'affected by palsy', which is directly interpretable.

Etymology

Palsied comes from the old word palsy, which means 'paralysis' and is the same idea as paralyzed; imagine a hand or leg that cannot move properly or that shakes without control. So, palsied describes a person or body part affected by that weakness or tremor.