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:
Only 7% cover accommodations for mobility limitation, hearing disability, vision impairment and sensory disabilities.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 16, 2026
Much less is known about how to turn a positive test into a reliable timestamp for impairment.
From BBC ● Aug. 15, 2026
The bot told the patient, whose doctor had previously diagnosed him with mild cognitive impairment, that his condition had progressed to dementia.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 6, 2026
But, joking aside, he emphasizes that some of these diseases can be very serious, causing encephalitis, neurological impairment, and death.
From Slate ● Aug. 6, 2026
I must have noticed it before, but this last time back I felt it as an impairment.
From "The Poisonwood Bible" by Barbara Kingsolver
Follow-up testing also found no detectable neurological or motor impairments associated with the treatment.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 27, 2026
The judge said the court would still make certain accommodations, in light of Jeffries 81 years of age and cognitive impairments.
From BBC ● Aug. 21, 2026
The neurotypical participants completed logic puzzles similar to those given to the participants with language impairments.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 11, 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
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.
