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palsied

palsied

1 9.9
Having muscles that shake or cannot move
  • adjective
  • /ˈpɔːlzid/
: 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.