Meaning & use

impaired

adjective·Academic

Weakened, damaged, or reduced in function, especially referring to a physical or mental ability.

See it in a sentence

Driving while visually impaired without corrective lenses is extremely dangerous.

His judgment was clearly impaired after several hours without sleep.

A note on using this word

Impaired is often used as a more clinical, respectful alternative to older terms when describing a disability, as in 'hearing impaired'.

Words with a similar meaning

weakeneddiminished

Choose a synonym to suit the sentence. Meanings can overlap without being identical.

Words with an opposite meaning

healthyunimpaired

Make it your own

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