obstruction
Americannoun
-
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.
“Due to those actions and Zacharia Branch’s failure to comply with multiple verbal lawful commands, he was placed under arrest for misdemeanor Obstruction of LEO and received a citation for Obstructing Public Sidewalks.”
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 20, 2026
Obstruction is a misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in jail.
From Salon • Nov. 3, 2022
Obstruction charges often apply when otherwise lawful acts are done with the corrupt intent to obstruct.
From Washington Post • Aug. 25, 2022
“I told Campana that he was very close to being arrested for Obstruction and that he needed to cooperate.”
From Seattle Times • Mar. 18, 2022
Obstruction, he noted, appeared to be these private detectives’ “sole object,” adding, “Someone must be paying them to do this.”
From "Killers of the Flower Moon" by David Grann
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.
