Paralympian

Syllables: Pa·ra·lymp·i·anUK/ˌpæ.ɹəˈlɪm.pɪ.ən//ˌpæ.ɹəˈlɪm.pi.ən/

Paralympian noun: one who competes in the Paralympic Games.

Image: John Sherwell, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Noun

Paralympian (plural Paralympians)

One who competes in the Paralympic Games.
- DICK MADURO … Paralympian1960 September 19, Amaldo Cortesi, “Paralympic Games open at Rome Olympics site”, in St. Petersburg Times, volume 77, number 57, St. Petersburg, Fla.: The Times Publishing Co., →OCLC, section C...
- These are the "Paralympians," the wheelchair athletes of the world, whose own Olympics will be held in Tokyo immediately after the regular Olympiad. […] I spoke to two young Paralympians from the Long Beach area the other day, Frank Vecera and Bill Johnson. "I am only half here," Frank Vecera...1964 September 30, Jim Murray, “Better half”, in Nick B[oddie] Williams, editor, Los Angeles Times, volume LXXXIII, number 291, Los Angeles, Calif.: Times Mirror Company, →OCLC, part III (Sports)...

Adjective

Paralympian (comparative more Paralympian, superlative most Paralympian)

Of or pertaining to a Paralympian (“one who competes in the Paralympic Games”).
- As girls and women of all stripes of ability around the world are encouraged to become involved in sport, and as nearly all nations submit Paralympian females, it is hoped that support for fellow athletes—emotionally as well as economically, is part of that process.2014, Linda K. Fuller, “Gendered Implications of Olympic and the Paralympic Events”, in Female Olympian and Paralympian Events: Analyses, Backgrounds, and Timelines, Cham, Switzerland: Palgrave...
- Should we be inspired by Paralympian achievement? Commentator Frances Ryan recently counselled Guardian readers to be careful to think through their reactions to disabled "superhuman" athletes and academic poster boys like Professor Stephen Hawking. Treat people with disabilities just like everyone...2016 September 15, Tom Shakespeare, “Disabled People Don’t Want to Be Your Inspiration, but If They Are It’s No Surprise”, in The Conversation, Parkville, Melbourne, Vic.: The Conversation Media...
Of or pertaining to the Paralympic Games; Paralympic.
- Funds sought for ‘Paralympian’ trip [article title] […] At present, however, the Long Beach resident has more than records on his mind, mainly getting a representative U.S. team to the 1964 "paralympics" to be held in Tokyo Nov. 8–12. [Frank] Vecera is on a fund-raising drive for the six California...1964 August 20, “Funds sought for ‘Paralympian’ trip”, in Nick B[oddie] Williams, editor, Los Angeles Times, volume LXXXIII, number 250, Los Angeles, Calif.: Times Mirror Company, →OCLC, part III...
- So they disqualified [Jody] Cundy on the spot. And it must be said, [Alfonso] Cabello's coaches covered themselves in little glory by registering their own protest that Cundy should not be allowed a restart. True Paralympian spirit, eh, senors?2012 August 31, Mike Walters, “Why the commissionaires’ handling of Jody Cundy has been a disgrace to the Paralympics”, in Daily Mirror, London: Reach plc, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on...

Paralympian meaning in Tamil and Arabic

Paralympian in Arabic

one who competes in the Paralympic Games: بَارَالَمْبِيّ bārālambiyy, بَارَالَمْبِيّة bārālambiyya

Examples of Paralympian in a sentence

Our athletes, Olympians and Paralympians, joined together in April to represent the 1994 U.S.1994 August 11, LeRoy T. Walker, “Prepared Statement of Dr. LeRoy T. Walker”, in Oversight of Activities of the Olympic Committee: Hearing...
In the summer of 1996, our nation cheered the performance and achievements of the U.S. women Olympians and Paralympians.1997 spring, Sandra Perlmutter, “Message from the President’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports”, in Linda K. Bunker, editor, Physical...
Marla ran the 1500-meter race at the Sydney Summer Olympics in 2000 to finish eighth, while becoming the first Paralympian to compete in the Olympics.2003 December, Susan Greenwald, “Victories by and for the Disabled”, in Michael J. Bandler, editor, U.S. Society & Values: Electronic...
Even with mountains in their way, Paralympians still find a way to succeed.2019, Josh Pauls, “From Humble Beginnings”, in Lessons Learned: My Journey to the Podium, Victoria, B.C.: FriesenPress, →ISBN, page 103:

Forms of Paralympian

Noun
plural	Paralympians
Adjective
comparative	more Paralympian
superlative	most Paralympian

Origin of Paralympian

From Paralympic + -ian (suffix with the sense ‘having a certain profession’ forming nouns, or with the sense ‘from, like, or related to’ forming adjectives). Paralympic is a blend of paraplegic + Olympic; the Paralympic Games were originally organized for persons with paraplegia from spinal injuries, but are now participated in by sportspersons with all kinds of disabilities.

Questions about Paralympian

What does Paralympian mean?: Paralympian means one who competes in the Paralympic Games.
What is Paralympian in Tamil?: Paralympian in Tamil is உலக மாற்றுத்திறனாளிஆட்ட வீரர். See Paralympian meaning in Tamil.
How do you use Paralympian in a sentence?: Our athletes, Olympians and Paralympians, joined together in April to represent the 1994 U.S.
What part of speech is Paralympian?: Paralympian can be a noun or an adjective.
How do you pronounce Paralympian?: Paralympian is pronounced /ˌpæ.ɹəˈlɪm.pɪ.ən/ (UK).
What is the plural of Paralympian?: The plural of Paralympian is Paralympians.

Words near Paralympian in the dictionary

Adapted from Wiktionary: Paralympian (page history and authors); Paralympian (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-us-Paralympian.oga.

Cite this entry: “Paralympian.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/paralympian. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.