Meaning & use
bed-ridden
Last updated
Meaning
adjectivebefore a noun
Unable to leave one's bed because of illness, injury or old age.
Grammar: Used before a noun or after a linking verb: a bedridden patient; he was bedridden.
Patterns
- be bedridden
- bedridden with something
After the stroke, her grandfather was bedridden for months.
Nurses visit the bedridden residents twice a day.
The flu left me bedridden for almost a week.
Common combinations
- bedridden patient
- The bedridden patient was turned every two hours to prevent sores.
- become bedridden
- She became bedridden after the fall.
- remain bedridden
- He remained bedridden through the winter.
- bedridden with illness
- I was bedridden with a fever.
- completely bedridden
- His mother is now completely bedridden.
- care for the bedridden
- The charity helps families who care for the bedridden.
Synonyms and how they differ
- housebound
- Means unable to go outside the home, but the person may still move around indoors.
- confined to bed
- Is a phrase that can describe a short rest on doctor's orders, not necessarily a long-term condition.
- laid up
- Is informal and usually suggests a temporary illness or injury.
- invalid
- Is an old-fashioned noun for a sick person and can sound unkind today.
Opposites
Commonly confused: bed-ridden or bedrid?
bed-ridden vs bedrid
Not a standard word; the correct form is 'bedridden', from 'bed' and the old participle 'ridden'.
Practice
After the accident, Mr. Hall was ____ for three months and needed help with everything.
Choose one answer.
'Bedridden' means unable to leave bed through illness or injury; 'bedside' is the area next to a bed, and the others do not describe a person's condition.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “bed-ridden”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.