locked-in syndrome

noun

A rare, severe physical disorder in which a person cannot speak and is paralyzed—with the possible exception of some voluntary eye movement—while their mental faculties remain fully intact.

Similar
pseudocoma
Ask AI about this wordChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

Meanings

nounlocked-in syndrome (uncountable)
  1. uncountablemedicineA rare, severe physical disorder in which a person cannot speak and is paralyzed—with the possible exception of some voluntary eye movement—while their mental faculties remain fully intact.

    A a^([sic]) 58-year-old victim of locked-in syndrome has told the high court that a decision not to allow him to be helped to die would condemn him "to a 'life' of increasing misery".

    2012 June 19, Amelia Hill, quoting Tony Nicklinson, “Man with locked-in syndrome calls for change to murder law”, in The Guardian, →ISSN
    1 more example

    The locked-in syndrome is a medical condition in which, though both level and content of consciousness may be fairly normal, the patient is so severely paralyzed it may appear on superficial examination that he or she has diminished consciousness.

    1988, Ronald E. Cranford, “The Persistent Vegetative State: The Medical Reality (Getting the Facts Straight)”, in The Hastings Center Report, volume 18, number 1, page 30

    Synonyms: pseudocoma

Synonyms & antonyms

nounA rare, severe physical disorder in which a person cannot speak and is paralyzed—with the possible exception of some voluntary eye movement—while their mental faculties remain fully intact.

Similar
pseudocoma

Translations

French syndrome d'enfermement
  • syndrome d'enfermementTranslations
German Locked-in-Syndrom, Eingeschlossensein-Syndrom
  • Locked-in-SyndromTranslations
  • Eingeschlossensein-SyndromTranslations
  • Gefangensein-SyndromTranslations
Polish zespół zamknięcia
  • zespół zamknięciaTranslations
Portuguese síndrome do encarceramento
  • síndrome do encarceramentoTranslations
Turkish locked-in sendromu
  • locked-in sendromuTranslations
Cite this entry
APA

locked-in syndrome. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/locked-in%20syndrome

MLA

“locked-in syndrome.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/locked-in%20syndrome. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “locked-in syndrome,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/locked-in%20syndrome.

Source: locked-in syndrome on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.