paralysis

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin paralysis, from Ancient Greek παράλυσις (parálusis, “palsy”), from παραλύω (paralúō, “to disable on one side”). By surface analysis, para- + -lysis. Doublet of palsy.

noun

1. (pathology) The complete loss of voluntary control of part of a person's body, such as one or more limbs.
2. A state of being unable to act.
   The government has been in a paralysis since it lost its majority in the parliament.
   Until then, the Sunak administration remains a study in ineffectuality on multiple fronts, leading Goldsmith to cite, not unreasonably, “a kind of paralysis”. 2023-06-30, Marina Hyde, “The tide is coming in fast on Rishi Sunak – and it’s full of sewage”, in The Guardian