Meaning & use

stymie

verb·Advanced

To block, obstruct, or prevent progress on something, often frustratingly so.

See it in a sentence

Heavy rain stymied the rescue team's efforts to reach the stranded climbers.

Budget cuts have stymied the department's plans to hire new researchers.

A note on using this word

Stymie originally comes from golf, where a stymie blocked an opponent's ball from a clear path to the hole.

Words with a similar meaning

hinderobstructthwart

Choose a synonym to suit the sentence. Meanings can overlap without being identical.

Words with an opposite meaning

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