impediment
Americannoun
-
impediments
plural
-
obstruction; hindrance; obstacle.
- Synonyms:
- check, encumbrance, bar
- Antonyms:
- encouragement, help
-
any physical impairment or condition that impedes normal, fluent, or easy speech; a speech disorder.
-
Chiefly Ecclesiastical Law. a bar, usually of blood or affinity, to marriage.
a diriment impediment.
-
Usually impediments. impedimenta.
noun
-
a hindrance or obstruction
-
a physical defect, esp one of speech, such as a stammer
-
law an obstruction to the making of a contract, esp a contract of marriage by reason of closeness of blood or affinity
Synonym Usage
See obstacle.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of impediment
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English, from Latin impedīmentum; see impede, -ment
Explanation
An impediment is anything that slows or blocks progress. It can refer to a physical thing, like a fallen tree in the road, or something more intangible, like how your short stature is an impediment to becoming a professional basketball player. See the pedi in there? Pedi means "feet" and hundreds of years ago, the word impediment referred to shackling one's feet. Now its use has broadened considerably. An impediment is something that blocks or impedes your path. There's no end to the things in life that can be considered impediments: a small bank account, a low-paying job, a country's economic malaise — any one of these could be considered an impediment in someone's quest for happiness.
Vocabulary lists containing impediment
"Harrison Bergeron"
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The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian
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Othello
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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:
We wanted to see where it fails and what is the biggest impediment to making it 30-plus years following this strategy without running out of savings.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 30, 2026
One impediment has been the spotty availability of charging infrastructure.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 30, 2026
But remember, despair isn’t activism—it’s just another impediment to progress.
From Slate ● Jul. 27, 2026
This is, by far, the main structural impediment to success.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 12, 2026
They had brought us to America for the sole reason of giving us a better life, and they didn't want that life to become an impediment to our relationship.
From "Americanized" by Sara Saedi
Quality control checks are used to ensure no such impediments exist in the final product.
From BBC ● Sep. 15, 2026
But a 2015 Government Accountability Office investigation noted impediments to their use: uncertainty about which government functions were “inherently federal” and therefore outside tribal authority, a cumbersome application process, and cost.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 21, 2026
As much as you might want to stay in your home, new impediments can arise.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 12, 2026
“At least the impediments that kept us from retaining recruits, to get them in the academy, that has changed.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 8, 2026
Attaining adulthood was all about the eager acceptance of such impediments.
From "Atonement" by Ian McEwan
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
