gridlocked

Meanings

1. 1adjectivenot comparable

   So blocked with traffic that vehicles cannot move at all.

   Grammar: Used after a linking verb or before a noun: the roads were gridlocked; a gridlocked highway.

   Patterns

   • be gridlocked
   • become gridlocked
   • a gridlocked road

   The city center was completely gridlocked after the truck broke down.

   We sat in a gridlocked street for over an hour.

2. 2adjectivenot comparablefigurative

   Unable to make progress because opposing sides refuse to agree.

   Grammar: Used mainly in politics and business, often before a noun: a gridlocked parliament.

   Patterns

   • be gridlocked
   • a gridlocked parliament
   • remain gridlocked over something

   Talks between the two parties have been gridlocked for months.

   A gridlocked government passed no new laws that year.

Word forms

Common combinations

completely gridlocked

The ring road was completely gridlocked by five o'clock.

gridlocked traffic

Gridlocked traffic turned the short trip into a two-hour ordeal.

be gridlocked over something

Lawmakers are gridlocked over the budget.

leave something gridlocked

The accident left the whole district gridlocked.

Synonyms and how they differ

jammed

Describes traffic or machines that cannot move; it is less absolute than gridlocked, which suggests nothing moves at all.

blocked

A general word for anything stopped up; gridlocked is used specifically for traffic or stalled negotiations.

deadlocked

Used for talks or votes that cannot progress, but never for roads.

Opposites

Word family

gridlock noun

A situation in which traffic or talks cannot move at all.

Commonly confused: gridlocked or deadlocked?

Practice

Make it your own

Write a sentence using “gridlocked”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

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