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.
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
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.
A source among the mediators trying to make them work described what has happened as "a setback for sure".
From BBC • Jul. 8, 2026
Naturally, the laid back U.S. is taking this setback calmly.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jul. 2, 2026
The legal setback for the Postal Service proposed rule was welcome news to the union representing postal workers.
From Los Angeles Times • Jul. 2, 2026
The chip-smuggling scandal is only the latest setback for the server maker, which was nearly delisted from the Nasdaq last year after failing to file the required quarterly and annual reports with regulators on time.
From Barron's • Jun. 30, 2026
I described the weakness of the PAC, and argued that a postponement would be a setback for the struggle as a whole.
From "Long Walk to Freedom" by Nelson Mandela
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.
