How to Use debilitate in a Sentence

debilitate

verb
Definition of debilitatenext
Synonyms for debilitatenext
  • The virus debilitates the body's immune system.
  • But that being said, it’s been debilitating for a lot of the artists involved.
    — Chris Lee, Vulture, 23 June 2023
  • Watson dove in to save his closest friend but suffered a debilitating blow to the head from a rock.
    — Bryan Alexander, USA TODAY, 27 Jan. 2025
  • And yet, in the overall picture of a program’s progress, a loss would not be debilitating.
    — George Schroeder, USA TODAY, 1 Nov. 2019
  • My God, debilitating back pain is the absolute worst pain in the world.
    — Danielle Tullo, House Beautiful, 25 May 2018
  • Foremost, how debilitating is the left-knee soreness that kept the 36-year-old point guard out of the final six games before the All-Star break?
    — Ira Winderman, Sun Sentinel, 17 Feb. 2023
  • Yet in the heart of Texas the news is not seen as unexpected, or debilitating.
    — Joe Pappalardo, Popular Mechanics, 31 May 2016
  • But what about the not-so-glamorous parts, like living with loose skin or debilitating pain?
    — Samantha Lauriello, Health, 3 Nov. 2023
  • Prodigious force is required to propel the 245-pound Texas senior skyward, and that sort of strain and joint load can debilitate over time.
    — Nick Moyle, ExpressNews.com, 13 Nov. 2020
  • None seems to be worse off than Randall (Sterling K. Brown), who suffers from debilitating anxiety in the lead-up to the birth of his first child.
    — Nicole Briese, People.com, 22 Oct. 2024
  • Mandie Moore's young sons have the same debilitating rare disease.
    — Wendy Grossman Kantor, Peoplemag, 9 Sep. 2024
  • And, at least for now, enjoy life as an NBA coach without debilitating chest pains.
    — Joe Vardon, cleveland.com, 5 Apr. 2018
  • Still, the result remains hard to predict, not least because the debilitating heat wave could drive down turnout.
    — Ned Temko, The Christian Science Monitor, 20 July 2023
  • But for the singer-songwriter, being so much in the public eye, the wrong hue became debilitating.
    — Elizabeth Logan, Glamour, 14 Nov. 2023
  • The chart-topping vocal star has not been able to drum for years because of debilitating health issues.
    — George Varga, San Diego Union-Tribune, 10 Dec. 2023
  • Patients often suffer debilitating pain from the skin rash caused by the virus.
    — Joshua P. Cohen, Forbes, 16 Aug. 2024
  • Even those who do make it to a doctor can emerge with long-lasting, sometimes debilitating pain.
    — WIRED, 16 Aug. 2023
  • In Alzheimer’s, nerve cells in the brain at some point start to dysfunction, leading to the debilitating symptoms of memory loss.
    — Linda Carroll, NBC News, 1 Nov. 2024
  • Chan, however, defeats them by taking the fight to a bridge, where their heels get wedged into the cracks between the planks, debilitating them.
    — April Wolfe, chicagotribune.com, 22 June 2018
  • Now that both areas have been debilitated, Sims hopes that the industry finds a new way forward.
    — Katie Kilkenny, The Hollywood Reporter, 22 Jan. 2025
  • At the same time, storms like Hurricane Harvey routinely pound Texas, along with debilitating ice storms in the north and crippling droughts that crack roads and pipes.
    — Dug Begley, Houston Chronicle, 11 Apr. 2018
  • Extreme and lengthy heat can debilitate bodies; some of the far-reaching effects of extreme heat are already taxing countries in much of the world.
    — Elian Peltier, New York Times, 6 Jan. 2023
  • The couple has weathered through Travis’ debilitating stroke that occurred in July 2013 that left him unable to speak or sing.
    — Emily J. Shiffer, Peoplemag, 31 Dec. 2023
  • There was the lesion, the scans, the meds and the debilitating reactions to too much stimuli, which flared up when his three rambunctious children hit overdrive.
    — Bryce Miller, San Diego Union-Tribune, 21 Jan. 2025
  • Proust’s insomnia, though debilitating, was made, in classic wound-and-bow terms, into the engine of his art.
    — Adam Gopnik, The New Yorker, 20 Jan. 2025
  • Even if they were released, would the scars of imprisonment debilitate them?
    — Missy Ryan, Washington Post, 23 Aug. 2019
  • This is an excellent way to get to Sydney without having to spend half your trip with debilitating jet lag.
    — Laura Dannen Redman, Condé Nast Traveler, 5 June 2018
  • Pain from sciatica can range from annoying to debilitating and affect the back, buttocks, back of the leg, and foot.
    — Cory Martin, Verywell Health, 3 Feb. 2025
  • If left unchecked, these maladaptive thought patterns can lead to debilitating levels of burnout and stress.
    — Mark Travers, Forbes, 22 Feb. 2024
  • As a mother, my primary goal is to maintain my health and avoid debilitating crises with the least possible risk.
    — Jennifer Fields, STAT, 8 Dec. 2023

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'debilitate.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Last Updated: