3

Example sentence:

When he opened the door, he found a bandaged, [...] Mary.

I thought the word was bed-stricken but I was wrong.

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  • 7
    Perhaps "bedridden" if she cannot leave the bed due to her injuries.
    – relaxing
    Apr 12, 2017 at 14:47
  • 2
    Also bedbound - considerably less common, but gaining traction (especially as an AmE hyphenated usage). I'd say that's because -ridden is becoming a fairly "dated" suffix today. Apr 12, 2017 at 14:56
  • The word abed, might work, though it is not common at all.
    – WRX
    Apr 12, 2017 at 15:01
  • @relaxing Ah! I confused the word bedridden with bed-stricken. Should I delete this post to save face?
    – alex
    Apr 12, 2017 at 15:06
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    Bed-stricken, bedridden and bedbound all imply fairly long-term confinement to bed. To indicate merely the fact of being in bed, without implying that the state is either temporary or enduring, we'd use an ordinary locative PP, in bed: "... he found a bandaged Mary in bed." Abed is an obsolete version of the same phrase, and must follow the noun. Apr 12, 2017 at 15:09

1 Answer 1

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As others in the comments have mentioned

bedbound
bedridden

are the usual adjectives to describe the situation when someone is confined to a bed. Both usually imply a medical affliction as the cause.

nounbound
housebound

is also used to describe people who are confined within their house, e.g. due to old age.

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