obstruction
Americannoun
-
obstructions
plural
-
something that obstructs, blocks, or closes up with an obstacle or obstacles; obstacle or hindrance.
obstructions to navigation.
- Synonyms:
- impediment, bar, barrier
- Antonyms:
- encouragement
-
an act or instance of obstructing.
-
the state of being obstructed.
- Synonyms:
- stoppage
- Antonyms:
- encouragement
-
the delaying or preventing of business before a deliberative body, especially a legislative group, by parliamentary contrivances.
noun
-
a person or thing that obstructs
-
the act or an instance of obstructing
-
delay of business, esp in a legislature by means of procedural devices
-
sport the act of unfairly impeding an opposing player
-
the state or condition of being obstructed
Synonym Usage
See obstacle.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of obstruction
First recorded in 1525–35; from Latin obstructiōn- (stem of obstructiō ) “barrier.” See obstruct, -ion
Explanation
An obstruction blocks things, like a roadblock prevents drivers to enter a street or a piece of food cuts off your windpipe. All types of obstructions block things. If you put a shelf in your doorway, that would be an obstruction: people would have a hard time getting around it. In football, offensive linemen try to be obstructions: they stand between the defense and the quarterback. Legally, if someone lies to the police or withholds evidence, they are an obstruction to justice, because they're preventing the police from doing their jobs. All obstructions are impediments; obstructions are in the way.
Vocabulary lists containing obstruction
Latin Love, Vol I: struere
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The Red Badge of Courage
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President Obama's Remarks on the Economy
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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:
While existing laws cover harassment and obstruction, they don’t reach the organized disruption that actually makes Americans feel afraid to enter their houses of worship.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 13, 2026
A ninth person, Alexander Iniguez Mercado, was arrested last week and charged with obstruction of justice.
From BBC ● Jul. 10, 2026
US media reported that Lander was found not guilty following a one-day trial in Manhattan as the judge found no evidence of deliberate obstruction.
From Barron's ● Jun. 11, 2026
The DOJ is purportedly seeking to charge the nonprofit with money laundering and obstruction.
From Slate ● Jun. 1, 2026
The only sense of speed he had was the cold air against his face and the occasional tremor of the hull as some obstruction far below raised a slight wave in the water.
From "The Book of Dust: La Belle Sauvage" by Philip Pullman
The Supreme Court has directed states to prevent the blockage of elephant corridors -- routes used by herds to move between rapidly shrinking habitats -- and ordered a survey to identify obstructions along those routes.
From Barron's ● Aug. 21, 2026
These obstructions don’t pop up specifically because we’re straight or gay or queer or open or pansexual or asexual or ethically nonmonogamous, but because we’re human.
From Salon ● Jul. 5, 2026
The company said it is now working to reduce unnecessary obstructions.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 11, 2026
Ships departing Canada’s west coast can reach Asia’s east coast, without obstructions, in less time.
From Barron's ● Mar. 24, 2026
They talk of their B-trees and Disk Doctors and then have the nerve to complain when I discuss bowel obstructions at the dinner table.
From "Me Talk Pretty One Day" by David Sedaris
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.
