hamstrung

[ham-struhng]

adjective

1. having been made powerless or useless; thwarted.

   The candidates also face a housing market crisis, subway strikes, and a hamstrung government.

2. having had the hamstring tendon cut.

   She fell like a hamstrung deer.

verb

1. the simple past tense and past participle of hamstring.

Word History and Origins

Origin of hamstrung¹

ham ¹ ( def. ) + strung ( def. )

Example Sentences

“Everything is just costing a higher amount, and people are needing to take a withdrawal because many people don’t have emergency savings. The problem is that, by the time you retire, you’ve hamstrung your growth.”

Read more on MarketWatch

He added that the decision about whether to proceed with the prosecution was taken by the CPS, "who were hamstrung by antiquated legislation".

Read more on BBC

For the first time since the 2019 political showdown that hamstrung the National Basketball Association’s aspirations in China, both of the league’s biggest stars returned to the basketball-crazy nation to plug their shoe brands.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

That natural attrition is slowing because more workers, hamstrung by declining job openings and spooked by fears of an economic downturn, are staying put.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

“For decades, the Department has been hamstrung by entrenched staffing problems and organizational culture resistant to reform and accountability,” she said in a statement.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• debilitated www.thesaurus.com
• disabled 
• impaired 
• incapacitated 
• limited 
• maimed 
• paralytic 
• paralyzed www.thesaurus.com
• restricted