Meaning & use
hindrance
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Meaning
nouncountable or uncountable
Someone or something that makes progress slower or harder, getting in the way of what a person is trying to do.
Grammar: Countable for a particular obstacle: a hindrance; uncountable in the phrase without hindrance.
Patterns
- a hindrance to something
- be a hindrance to someone
- without let or hindrance
Heavy snow was a major hindrance to the rescue teams.
He found his old phone more of a hindrance than a help.
Lack of money should not be a hindrance to learning.
Word forms
| plural | hindrances |
|---|
Common combinations
- a hindrance to
- Strict rules can be a hindrance to creativity.
- more of a hindrance than a help
- The extra staff were more of a hindrance than a help.
- prove a hindrance
- The narrow road proved a hindrance to the delivery trucks.
- major hindrance
- Language barriers were a major hindrance during the negotiations.
- without hindrance
- The runners passed without hindrance through the open gate.
Synonyms and how they differ
- obstacle
- Obstacle usually means a specific thing in the way, while hindrance stresses the slowing effect rather than the thing itself.
- impediment
- Impediment is more formal and often describes something that blocks a process, such as a legal impediment to marriage.
- obstruction
- Obstruction suggests something that actually blocks the way, whereas a hindrance only makes it harder.
- handicap
- Handicap suggests a lasting disadvantage, and it can be offensive when applied to people, so hindrance is safer here.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: hindrance or hinder? hindrance or hindsight?
hindrance vs hinder
Hinder is the verb for the action, while hindrance is the noun for the thing that causes the delay.
hindrance vs hindsight
Hindsight means understanding something after it has happened and has nothing to do with obstacles.
Practice
Choose the word that fits: 'The heavy suitcase was a real ___ on the crowded train.'
Choose one answer.
After 'a real' a noun is needed, and hindrance is the noun for something that makes progress harder. Hinder is a verb, hindering is a participle, and hindsight means something else.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “hindrance”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.