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:
In a large international study, researchers found that older adults with very high levels of a particular blood biomarker faced a 38% chance of developing cognitive impairment within five years.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 31, 2026
Together, these studies included 2,684 older adults who showed no signs of cognitive impairment when they entered the research.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 31, 2026
It also cuts the stock’s target price to 16.50 yuan from 18.00 yuan, citing weak sales and certain impairment costs.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 26, 2026
‘He did have very mild cognitive impairment, but no dementia diagnosis.’
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 20, 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
He’s rehabilitating but still struggles to speak, in addition to other impairments he’d rather not make public.
From Salon ● Oct. 23, 2026
Removing the enzyme responsible for producing D-serine prevented or reduced several later cognitive impairments in those mice.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 12, 2026
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
The University of Washington speech-perception researcher was awaiting a decision on a proposal to study literacy in children with hearing impairments.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 18, 2026
Across America, ophthalmologists rediscovered an obscure and risky procedure called radial keratotomy, and there was a boom in surgery to correct small impairments of vision.
From "The Big Short" by Michael Lewis
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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.
