impairment
Americannoun
-
impairments
plural
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of impairment
Explanation
An impairment makes some things difficult to do. An eye injury can be an impairment to seeing. An impairment can also be any change for the worse. People with impairments have trouble doing something. If you have a hearing impairment, you can’t hear very well. If you have a taste impairment, you can’t enjoy flavors. If you bump your head and can’t remember your name, you’re suffering a mental impairment. Some impairments are temporary. If you sprain your ankle, it will heal, but you'll have to live with the impairment for a while. Losing your job is an impairment to your career and finances. Impairments make things more difficult.
Vocabulary lists containing impairment
"Remarks at the Dedication of the Aerospace Medical Health Center," Vocabulary from the speech
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myPerspectives 7.1
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"Remarks at the Dedication of the Aerospace Medical Health Center" by John F. Kennedy
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Unlike the Menin experiments, which associated reduced D-serine with age-related memory impairment, this study found that an early increase in D-serine accompanied disruptions in brain signaling.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 12, 2026
Of the 12 players in the squad, 10 had no intellectual impairment at all, but were keen amateur players who had been recruited months before the Sydney Games to supplement the team.
From BBC ● Oct. 1, 2026
The committee said many business units attempted to meet their performance targets by early recognition of sales, avoiding inventory valuation losses and impairment of fixed assets, changing asset valuation methods and capitalizing costs.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 30, 2026
The results raise a potentially important question about glucosamine use among people with cognitive impairment or dementia, but they do not yet establish that people should stop taking the supplement.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 27, 2026
Dr. Strayer said he’d published more than fifty articles in major scientific journals, around twenty of them on issues pertaining to driving impairment, attention and distraction behind the wheel.
From "A Deadly Wandering: A Mystery, a Landmark Investigation, and the Astonishing Science of Attention in the Digital Age" by Matt Richtel
Non-motor symptoms include depression, anxiety, apathy, hallucinations, constipation, orthostatic hypotension, sleep disorders, loss of sense of smell, and cognitive impairments.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 23, 2026
Follow-up testing also found no detectable neurological or motor impairments associated with the treatment.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 27, 2026
She says finding available taxis has become more difficult, even with London Taxicard scheme, a subsidised taxi service for people with mobility impairments or severe sight loss.
From BBC ● Aug. 11, 2026
The research could have important implications for how people understand acquired language impairments, or aphasia.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 11, 2026
He had cognitive impairments that suggested some organic brain damage and behavioral problems that suggested schizophrenia and other serious mental illness.
From "Just Mercy" by Bryan Stevenson
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
