hindrance

UK/ˈhɪndɹəns/US/ˈhɪndɹəns/

nounC2Rare in speech; mostly a word you read · #12,152 of 15,258neutral

Other forms: hindrances

A hindrance is something that gets in the way of progress. More of a hindrance, without let or hindrance, a hindrance to growth.

Without let or hindrance is the fixed legal phrase, and the let in it is the old sense meaning obstruction rather than permission. More of a hindrance than a help is the standard unkind judgement.

Definitions of hindrance

1nounhindranceSomething that gets in the way of progress.C2
“Her long dress was a hindrance when she tried to climb over the fence.”

hindrance is an obstacle.

Where it comes from

From hinder plus -ance, from Old English hindrian, to hold back.

Middle English
hinderance
English, today
hindrance

From Middle English hinderance, hinderaunce, hindraunce, hynderaunce, hynderawnce, hynderawns, hyndrance; equivalent to hinder + ance.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practise this word

hindrance in the wild

Within the Mahayana tradition, the five hindrances are obstacles to samadhi.
Five hindrances
The classic list of five hindrances is: Sensory desire: seeking for pleasure through the five senses of sight, sound, smell, taste and physical feeling.
Five hindrances
Van der Waals strain is also called Van der Waals repulsion and is related to steric hindrance.
Van der Waals strain
Compounds or mixtures that cannot form an adduct because of steric hindrance are called frustrated Lewis pairs.
Adduct
Such organizations and/or unions argue that dual unionism may be compatible with the goals of the union and therefore not a hindrance to the union.
Dual unionism

1 / 2

From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.

Related words

hinder

← Vocabulary