paralysis
n. C / Un. the loss of the ability to move your body or a part of it. It can also describe a situation where you feel stuck and cannot make a decision or take action.
n. the loss of voluntary muscular function in one or more parts of the body due to nerve or spinal cord damage. In a figurative sense, it refers to a state of complete inability to act or make decisions.
The accident caused temporary paralysis in his left arm.
Fear of making the wrong choice led to a state of analysis paralysis, preventing the team from launching the product.
The sudden collapse of the national power grid caused a total paralysis of the city's transport infrastructure, leaving thousands of commuters stranded without any means of communication.
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.
Uncountable when referring to the medical condition or the abstract state of being stuck; countable when referring to specific types or instances of the condition.