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.
Setback advocates expect to know the final status of the referendum effort and the validity of its signatures sometime between the end of February and April.
From Salon • Dec. 26, 2022
Together, the Lones Levee Setback and flood plain Restoration Project could breathe new life into one of the region’s most important bodies of water.
From Seattle Times • Apr. 26, 2022
"Now — after just 100 days — I can report to the nation: America is on the move again. Turning peril into possibility. Crisis into opportunity. Setback into strength," he said.
From Fox News • Apr. 29, 2021
“Turning peril into possibility. Crisis into opportunity. Setback into strength.”
From Washington Times • Apr. 28, 2021
June 20, 2010, A Setback for Maine Mets starter John Maine has had an apparent setback in his rehabilitation from weakness in his right shoulder, Manager Jerry Manuel said Sunday.
From New York Times • Jun. 20, 2010
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.
