Vote for the best verboticism.
DEFINITION: To be so afraid of failure that you become paralyzed -- unable to move, respond or even say a word.
Verboticisms
Click on each verboticism to read the sentences created by the Verbotomy writers, and to see your voting options...
You have two votes. Click on the words to read the details, then vote your favorite.
Partylysis
Created by: CharlieB
Pronunciation: part-ill-is-is
Sentence: Faced with social situations, Kevin was a nervous wreck. As soon as crossed the front door of his mate's birthday bash, he went into a rigid state of partylysis.
Etymology: party (social celebration, festivities) + paralysis (unmoving state)
Deerheadlighted
Created by: Javeson1
Pronunciation: deer-hed-lie-ted
Sentence: many people become dearheadlighted when they see a beautiful and/or famous person they want to talk to and therefore cannot fulfill this goal.
Etymology: Everybody knows the deer-in-the-headlights look which comes from deer being locked into staring at the headlights of an approaching car which disables them from running away from said object.
Discoblobulated
Created by: galwaywegian
Pronunciation: disk oh blob ewe lay ted
Sentence: He was so discoblobulated when the woman of his dreams asked him to dance that he went totally rigid. Well, 98% rigid.
Etymology: discombobulated, disco, blob
Northpoleaxed
Created by: porsche
Pronunciation: north/pole/axd
Sentence: The thought of rejection completely northpoleaxed him leaving him frozen in place like frozen tag.
Etymology: north pole + poleaxed
Incompetrify
Created by: Discoveria
Pronunciation: In-com-pet-triff-fy
Sentence: Bob, a soft-spoken geologist, always became incompetrified whenever he had to give a speech in public.
Etymology: Incompetent+petrify. Incompetent: unable to do something well. Petrify: to turn to stone.
Fauxpause
Created by: purpleartichokes
Pronunciation: fo-pawz
Sentence: During the job interview, when Bob was asked his name, he suddenly became striken with a severe case of fauxpause, and was only able to produce an unintelligible high-pitched squeak.
Etymology: faux pas, pause
Numbdumb
Created by: Stevenson0
Pronunciation: num/dum
Sentence: When he came face to face with his boss to ask for the deserved raise, he became totally numbdumb.
Etymology: numb + dumb
Freezeframed
Created by: toadstool57
Pronunciation: frEEze-frAmed
Sentence: The professor of David's Physics class got an inside tip that David has stolen the upcoming exam. When the professor confronted him, David just sat freezeframed, not being able to speak in his defense.
Etymology: freeze, as in motionless/ frame, as in catching one moment of time./ framed, being set up using false evidence.
Trancefigured
Created by: Jabberwocky
Pronunciation: trans/fig/urrd
Sentence: He became tancefigured before every exam. He became famous as moveable art.
Etymology: trance + transfigured
Starelized
Created by: sodium
Pronunciation: stair-uh-lyzd
Sentence: Jimmy was certainly not sterile, but with the way he starelized every time an attractive woman was around, he might as well have been.
Etymology: (stare + paralyzed) = a homophone to sterilized
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COMMENTS:
I think this is very funny - Jabberwocky, 2007-02-08: 14:21:00
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Flatatonic
Created by: Nosila
Pronunciation: flat a ton ik
Sentence: When Star Trek geek Jaune Yellowhead pushed his other Star Trek geek friend, Ginger Carrotop, to ask the new girl out, Ginger went into a flatatonic state. The new girl with the magenta hair, Pinky Purple, was so cute that Ginger was speechless. Apparently love is colorblind and the phasers were on stunned that day.
Etymology: Flat (having lost effervescence;completely or partially deflated) & Catatonic (a form of schizophrenia characterized by a tendency to remain in a fixed stuporous state for long periods
Emotocomitosis
Created by: mickey666
Pronunciation: eemoto-comit-osis
Sentence: Wracked with emotocomitosis, he pushed out his arms to shake hands before instantly drawing it back
Etymology: emoto - connected to matters emotional; comitosis - in a frozen, lifeless state
Failock
Created by: chofu67
Pronunciation: fail lock
Sentence: We might have expected stammering or nervous gestures, but we were not prepared for his total failock in the face of a challenge from the floor.
Etymology: fail + lock as in vapor lock or lock up
Goofcoma
Created by: jedijawa
Pronunciation: goof-co-ma
Sentence: Brad went into a goofcoma whenever he saw Brandy enter the room.
Etymology: goof + coma
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COMMENTS:
funny! - wordmeister, 2007-02-27: 10:00:00
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Numbskulled
Created by: quippingqueen
Pronunciation: num/sculd
Sentence: He was so numbskulled that his friends didn't know whether he was a nerd, a nimrod, or just a nincompoop.
Etymology: variation of numskull, circa 1724, a higgledy-piggledy muddleheaded person
Startalized
Created by: erasmus
Pronunciation: star ta lye sd
Sentence: colin was startalized to the point of hardly even breathing when tracy walked in to the room.
Etymology: from startled and paralyzed.
Paralump
Created by: w5lf9s
Pronunciation: para.lump
Sentence: "So, what did he do when she finally spoke to him?" - "Well, you know him, he's a paralump, stood there like a statue."
Etymology: paralyse+lump
Fretrified
Created by: urbanwookie
Pronunciation: fret-riff-ride
Sentence: Thinking of the possible consequences of screwing up his final examination paper had Tony so completely fretrified, he failed to write a single word...
Etymology: fret + petrified
Terralysis
Created by: Guthlaf1
Pronunciation: TERR-a-LI-sis
Sentence: He was halfway to the group when the terralysis hit, and he was stuck there, thinking "Oh no - how are you supposed to break into conversation again?".
Etymology: 'terra' - from 'terror' '-lysis' - from 'paralysis'
Errimmobilis
Created by: cryptc
Pronunciation:
Sentence:
Etymology: Error, and Immobilis from latin.
Stiffabled
Created by: Antimus
Pronunciation: stiff-abled
Sentence: She looked at him in such a way, he became so stiffabled that he fell off his chair
Etymology: stiff (as in can't move) and unable, in past tense.
Rigorated
Created by: moltentim
Pronunciation: rig-or-ate-ed
Sentence: Sam became rigorated at the sight of Jane.
Etymology: rigor+intimidated
Anxipetrified
Created by: Bulletchewer
Pronunciation: anks-i-pet-re-fyd
Sentence: The would-be model was so anxipetrified, due to the tiniest amount of flab around her even tinier waist, that her mother had to slap her in the face several times to get a response.
Etymology: From "anxious/anxiety" and "petrified". Note that "petrified" is particularly appropriate here, for the derivation is "turn to stone".
Angstladen
Created by: Ecke21
Pronunciation: AngSt La den
Sentence: He was so angstladen that all he could do was stare at her.
Etymology:
Catafear
Created by: BMott
Pronunciation: Kat - u - feer
Sentence: Bob headed for the stage and then froze with catafear, he knew he could never give the speech without stuttering.
Etymology: Cata - From Catatonic- An abnormal condition characterized by stupor, and either rigidity or extreme flexibility of the limbs. Fear - A reason for dread or apprehension.
Statueoflimitations
Created by: rikboyee
Pronunciation: stat-chew-ov-lim-it-ay-shuns
Sentence: he'd studied hard and he knew his stuff, but as soon as he got into the exam he became a statueoflimitations
Etymology: statue, statute of limitations
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COMMENTS:
Quite clever! - purpleartichokes, 2007-02-08: 08:06:00
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Riskfreeze
Created by: ErWenn
Pronunciation: /'risk-frEz/
Sentence: She was so timid that even at Baskin Robbins, the possibility of picking a flavor she might not enjoy would cause her to riskfreeze.
Etymology: From risk + freeze
Freezetried
Created by: Osomatic
Pronunciation: freeze + tried
Sentence: I was going to attempt the high jump, but I got so scared that I freezetried.
Etymology: Like freeze-dried, but with "tried."
Thicktongue
Created by: josje
Pronunciation: thiktonque
Sentence: hecould not speak he had a thicktonque
Etymology: thik as in fat en tongue as in your mouth
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COMMENTS:
And maybe his head was thick too! - wordmeister, 2007-02-08: 17:38:00
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Stunblock
Created by: Alchemist
Pronunciation: STUHN-blok
Sentence: The moment Chrissy walked into the room, Jeremy developed a bad case of stunblock. He's been like that since noon.
Etymology: stun+block
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COMMENTS:
Good! - wordmeister, 2007-02-08: 09:26:00
great! I like this one. - w5lf9s, 2007-02-11: 02:49:00
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Stagnitized
Created by: tealismyname
Pronunciation:
Sentence: I was competely stagnitized when i saw that crazy bear!
Etymology:
Whitbatter
Created by: adbern
Pronunciation: with-bather
Sentence: its seems to me , he's withbatter
Etymology: WITHout BATTerys
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COMMENTS:
ha! ha! - wordmeister, 2007-02-08: 15:11:00
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Traumostasis
Created by: galwaywegian
Pronunciation: traw mo stay sis
Sentence: upon approaching her his traumostasis started with paralysis of the left foot, before quickly gripping his larynx as soon as he got the fiest syllable of his greeting out. "Hell" he said
Etymology: trauma and stasis
Performortis
Created by: ahwinters
Pronunciation: per + for + mort + iss
Sentence: Chuck's performotris was a particular liability in the bedroom.
Etymology: Perform + rigormortis
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COMMENTS:
Hehe! Good one! - purpleartichokes, 2007-02-08: 12:32:00
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Skierdycatatonic
Created by: artr
Pronunciation: skēərdēkatətänik
Sentence: Tim took his first-ever trip to a ski resort. He was told it would be a great place to meet young women. He was only one step beyond the lift when the pretty instructor smiled at him. He immediately went skierdycatatonic. It took 4 instructors to get him out of his skis and into the lodge.
Etymology: ski (travel over snow on skis) + scaredy-cat (a timid person) + catatonic (in an immobile or unresponsive stupor)
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COMMENTS:
brilliant! - galwaywegian, 2011-01-25: 10:21:00
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Verbrozen
Created by: wordmeister
Pronunciation: ver-brO-zen
Sentence: After playing verbotomy so much, his exotic vocabulary became a crutch. And when his co-workers demanded that he speak in plain English, he was simply verbrozen.
Etymology: verb+frozen
Catastronic
Created by: petaj
Pronunciation: cat-a-stron-ic
Sentence: For a moment, Kelly was catastronic, when he realised the potential catastrophe he had narrowly avoided.
Etymology: catatonic (muscular rigidity and mental stupor) + catastrophic (failure - big time)
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COMMENTS:
Nice one! - BMott, 2007-02-08: 03:28:00
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Comments:
Verbotomy - 2007-02-08: 08:18:45
Today's definition was suggested by mana1066. If you have an idea that you'd like verbotomized, send it to us! Go to: http://www.verbotomy.com/verbinition.php.
Thanks! ~ James
Verbotomy - 2007-02-08: 08:18:45
Today's definition was suggested by mana1066. If you have an idea that you'd like verbotomized, send it to us! Go to: http://www.verbotomy.com/verbinition.php.
Thanks! ~ James
wordmeister - 2007-02-08: 14:08:00
Hey this room is nice.... Not too big