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Definition of impaired adjective from the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary

impaired

adjective
 
/ɪmˈpeəd/
 
/ɪmˈperd/
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  1. (of a part or function) not working as it normally would or as it does in most people
    • impaired vision/memory
    • Anxiety can lead to impaired cognitive function.
    • Since my accident I have impaired mobility.
    • patients with impaired renal function
    • The battery life of the product was seriously impaired.
  2. (of a person) having a particular kind of disability
    • people who are visually impaired
    • She is now registered as severely sight-impaired but has continued to paint and create works.
    Which Word? disabled / handicappeddisabled / handicapped
    • Disabled is the most generally accepted term to refer to people with a permanent illness or injury that makes it difficult for them to use part of their body completely or easily. Handicapped is old-fashioned and now usually considered offensive.
    • Disabled and disability can also be used to talk about a condition that affects learning or brain development:
      • intellectually disabled
      • learning disabilities.
      In the UK, the term learning difficulty is generally preferred to talk about people who have difficulty with a particular type of learning (for example, people with dyslexia). It is also sometimes used in relation to people who have more general difficulties in learning skills, understanding information, etc., but the term learning disability is generally preferred to refer to these difficulties. However, in the US the term learning disability is preferred for specific difficulties in learning (such as dyslexia), where British English prefers learning difficulty. These terms replaced older terms that are now considered offensive such as ‘mental handicap’.
    see also blind, deaf
    see also hearing-impairedTopics Disabilityc2
See impaired in the Oxford Advanced American DictionarySee impaired in the Oxford Learner's Dictionary of Academic English
Check pronunciation: impaired

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trait
noun
 
 
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