Library / English Dictionary

HINDRANCE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

The act of hindering or obstructing or impeding

Synonyms:

hinderance; hindrance; interference

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Hypernyms ("hindrance" is a kind of...):

act; deed; human action; human activity (something that people do or cause to happen)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "hindrance"):

foiling; frustration; thwarting (an act of hindering someone's plans or efforts)

antagonism ((biochemistry) interference in or inhibition of the physiological action of a chemical substance by another having a similar structure)

obstruction (the act of obstructing)

complication (the act or process of complicating)

deterrence (the act or process of discouraging actions or preventing occurrences by instilling fear or doubt or anxiety)

bar; prevention (the act of preventing)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Any obstruction that impedes or is burdensome

Synonyms:

encumbrance; hinderance; hindrance; hitch; incumbrance; interference; preventative; preventive

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("hindrance" is a kind of...):

impediment; impedimenta; obstructer; obstruction; obstructor (any structure that makes progress difficult)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "hindrance"):

clog (any object that acts as a hindrance or obstruction)

speed bump (a hindrance to speeding created by a crosswise ridge in the surface of a roadway)

Derivation:

hinder (be a hindrance or obstacle to)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Something immaterial that interferes with or delays action or progress

Synonyms:

balk; baulk; check; deterrent; handicap; hinderance; hindrance; impediment

Classified under:

Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents

Hypernyms ("hindrance" is a kind of...):

difficulty (a factor causing trouble in achieving a positive result or tending to produce a negative result)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "hindrance"):

albatross; millstone ((figurative) something that hinders or handicaps)

bind (something that hinders as if with bonds)

diriment impediment ((canon law) an impediment that invalidates a marriage (such as the existence of a prior marriage))

drag (something that slows or delays progress)

obstacle; obstruction (something immaterial that stands in the way and must be circumvented or surmounted)

straitjacket (anything immaterial that severely hinders or confines)

Derivation:

hinder (hinder or prevent the progress or accomplishment of)

Credits

 Context examples: 

But the hindrance thrown in the way of a very speedy intimacy, by the frequent want of one or more of these requisites, prevented their doing more than going through the first rudiments of an acquaintance, by informing themselves how well the other liked Bath, how much she admired its buildings and surrounding country, whether she drew, or played, or sang, and whether she was fond of riding on horseback.

(Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen)

I wish to be a better man than I have been, than I am; as Job's leviathan broke the spear, the dart, and the habergeon, hindrances which others count as iron and brass, I will esteem but straw and rotten wood.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

So many small parties of French and Spanish horse were sweeping hither and thither that the small band attracted little notice, and making its way at a gentle trot across the plain, they came as far as the camp without challenge or hindrance.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Elinor was obliged, though unwillingly, to believe that the sentiments which Mrs. Jennings had assigned him for her own satisfaction, were now actually excited by her sister; and that however a general resemblance of disposition between the parties might forward the affection of Mr. Willoughby, an equally striking opposition of character was no hindrance to the regard of Colonel Brandon.

(Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen)