stricken
/ˈstɹɪkən/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.52 in modern English
14
Scrabble Score
8
Letters
2
Syllables
8
Unique Chars
Meaning
adj
Disabled or incapacitated by something.
adj
Disabled or incapacitated by something.
verb
Example Sentences
- "The town was stricken by a devastating earthquake that left many buildings in ruins."
- "Turning back, then, toward the basement staircase, she began to grope her way through blinding darkness, but had taken only a few uncertain steps when, of a sudden, she stopped short and for a little stood like a stricken thing, quite motionless save that she quaked to her very marrow in the grasp of a great and enervating fear."
- "Services had to be diverted, damaged lines restored, and materials for coastal defence and relief supplies conveyed to the stricken areas with all possible speed."
- "Given the perils for divers trying to enter the stricken submarine, the recovery effort is expected to focus on raising the vessel, a daunting challenge since the flooded weight of the Kursk is estimated at 25,000 tonnes."
- "At about twenty past three in the afternoon, these aircraft duly began to arrive. The cruiser Northampton was towing Hornet at a stately five knots when, out of the sky, came seven torpedo-armed aircraft. They managed to miss the barely-moving Hornet with all but one drop... but one hit was really all that it took, the location causing additional damage to the stricken carrier and demolishing most of the repairs that had been made to the earlier damage."
- "Ministry of Defence officials, who were managing small boats in the Channel at the time, told the Guardian in January that they disputed that the stricken dinghy had entered UK waters."
Etymology
From Middle English striken, ystriken, from Old English stricen, ġestricen, from Proto-West Germanic *strikan, from Proto-Germanic *strikanaz, past participle of Proto-Germanic *strīkaną (“to strike”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian strieken, Dutch gestreken, German Low German streken, German gestrichen.