impediment

American  

[im-ped-uh-muhnt] / ɪmˈpɛd ə mənt /

noun

1. obstruction; hindrance; obstacle.

   Synonyms:

   check, encumbrance, bar

   Antonyms:

   encouragement, help

2. any physical impairment or condition that impedes normal, fluent, or easy speech; a speech disorder.

3. Chiefly Ecclesiastical Law. a bar, usually of blood or affinity, to marriage.

   a diriment impediment.

4. Usually impediments. impedimenta.

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impediment British  

/ ɪmˈpɛdɪmənt /

noun

1. a hindrance or obstruction

2. a physical defect, esp one of speech, such as a stammer

3. law an obstruction to the making of a contract, esp a contract of marriage by reason of closeness of blood or affinity

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Related Words

See obstacle.

Other Word Forms

• impedimental adjective
• impedimentary adjective
• nonimpedimental adjective
• nonimpedimentary adjective

Etymology

Origin of impediment

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English, from Latin impedīmentum; impede, -ment

Example Sentences

The Journal reviewed more than 100,000 posts from those accounts and identified 1,456 posts in which the government alleged an assault, impediment, attack or conspiracy or attempt to harm a federal officer.

From The Wall Street Journal

That could be a serious impediment for Anthropic, whose Claude artificial-intelligence model is widely used by the U.S. military and government contractors.

From MarketWatch

Second, expectations are a major impediment to happiness.

From The Wall Street Journal

He has previously expressed opposition to the sales tax hike, calling it “the biggest impediment to Abenomics.”

From The Wall Street Journal

“There is no statutory impediment in the U.S. to closing Paramount’s proposed acquisition of WBD,” Paramount said in a regulatory filing.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• barrier
• bottleneck
• burden
• defect
• deterrent
• difficulty
• disadvantage
• drawback
• flaw
• handicap
• hazard
• hitch
• hurdle
• inhibition
• obstacle
• red tape
• restriction
• setback
• snag
• stumbling block