setback
Americannoun
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a check to progress; a reverse or defeat.
The new law was a setback.
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Architecture. a recession of the upper part of a building from the building line, as to lighten the structure or to permit a desired amount of light and air to reach ground level at the foot of the building.
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an act or instance of setting back.
A nightly setback of your home thermostats can save a great deal of fuel.
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Also a downward temperature adjustment of a thermostat, especially performed automatically, as by a timer.
Etymology
Origin of setback
First recorded in 1665–75; noun use of verb phrase set back
Explanation
A setback is an event that makes you lose progress or keeps you from gaining ground. If you're knitting a sweater, dropping a bunch of stitches would be a big setback. If warring countries are negotiating a treaty, a sudden resurgence of fighting would be a huge setback for their peace plan. And if you're trying to finish baking in time for you friend's birthday party, knocking the frosted cake onto the floor would also be a setback. Setbacks are always frustrating — unless you're talking about the kind of setback that's defined as "a building's distance from the street."
Vocabulary lists containing setback
Vocabulary from Hillary Clinton's Concession Speech, November 9, 2016
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Heat
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This Week in Words: Current Events Vocab for September 10–September 16, 2022
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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.
And while a total failure wouldn’t tank the IPO, it would probably be a setback nonetheless, he said.
From MarketWatch • May 21, 2026
The filing comes just days after Musk suffered a significant legal setback in his bitter feud with OpenAI, a direct competitor also racing toward a public listing.
From Barron's • May 20, 2026
Despite the setback he still has a number of powerful allies in Parliament, including deputy leader Lucy Powell, Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy and former minister Louise Haigh.
From BBC • May 14, 2026
But after she and a colleague were denied raises in 2020, the final setback in a string of frustrations, she started looking for a plan B.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 7, 2026
Her skills and determination would see them through this setback and get them back on the road to victory.
From "Sterling Biographies®: Cleopatra: Egypt's Last and Greatest Queen" by Susan Blackaby
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.
