impair
1to make or cause to become worse; diminish in ability, value, excellence, etc.; weaken or damage: to impair one's health;to impair negotiations.
to grow or become worse; lessen.
Archaic. impairment.
Origin of impair
1synonym study For impair
Opposites for impair
Other words from impair
- im·pair·a·ble, adjective
- im·pair·er, noun
- im·pair·ment, noun
- non·im·pair·ment, noun
- pre·im·pair·ment, noun
- self-im·pair·a·ble, adjective
- self-im·pair·ing, adjective
- un·im·pair·a·ble, adjective
Other definitions for impair (2 of 2)
Origin of impair
2Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use impair in a sentence
Pollinators might have a harder time finding camouflaged plants, and the gray and brown coloration could impair photosynthetic activity.
These plants seem like they’re trying to hide from people | Jonathan Lambert | November 20, 2020 | Science NewsJunk food shapes adolescent brains in ways that impair their ability to think, learn and remember.
Warning! Junk foods can harm a teen’s brain | Sharon Oosthoek | November 19, 2020 | Science News For StudentsSuch changes can further impair the heart’s ability to pump blood effectively.
Teen athletes with even mild COVID-19 can develop heart problems | Partho Sengupta | November 18, 2020 | Science News For StudentsOne case related to the accessibility for the hearing impaired is a great example.
Is your website at risk for an ADA accessibility lawsuit? | Richard Horvath | November 12, 2020 | Search Engine LandSelf-reported anxiety and depression symptoms may not be long-lasting enough or impair daily functioning enough to be classed as mental disorders.
‘Deaths of despair’ are rising. It’s time to define despair | Bruce Bower | November 2, 2020 | Science News
Either would be very disruptive, severely impairing global economic development and regional security in the Asia-Pacific region.
But this goldsmith's work, far from impairing the effect of the whole, adds a certain fascination to it.
Bastien Lepage | Fr. CrastreThe strictest accuracy has thus been secured without impairing the interest of the story.
Little Fishers: and their Nets | PansyHe recalled all the petty strain and stress of trifling tragedies which had been steadily impairing his mental serenity.
Katharine Frensham | Beatrice HarradenHe seemed to her to have a rather remarkable faculty for slightly impairing the value of everything of which he wrote or spoke.
Gray youth | Oliver OnionsDepressing thoughts interfere with the cerebral circulation, impairing the nutrition of the cells and nerve centers.
Nuggets of the New Thought | William Walker Atkinson,
British Dictionary definitions for impair
/ (ɪmˈpɛə) /
(tr) to reduce or weaken in strength, quality, etc: his hearing was impaired by an accident
Origin of impair
1Derived forms of impair
- impairable, adjective
- impairer, noun
- impairment, noun
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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