break one's stride

Interrupt steady movement

To break one's stride is to interrupt the smooth, continuous rhythm of one's movement or progress.

Literally, it refers to disrupting a runner's or walker's steady pace, but the phrase more often appears figuratively to describe anything that throws someone off their momentum or disrupts their flow of activity.

She didn't let the criticism break her stride.

The negative form is especially common: someone who keeps going despite obstacles does so without breaking stride.

Related

setback · hit a snag · interference · mental block · interruption · delay · overthinking · second guess · derailment · hesitation · pause · miss a beat · indecision · self-doubt · disturbance · thrown off · throw off balance · misstep

Opposites
momentum and continuity

break one's stridehit one's stride

Achieve peak performance level

keep going · stay the course · press on · forge ahead · carry on

rhythm and tempo

break one's stridekeep pace

Stay equally fast

get in sync · flow · cruise · glide

psychological composure during action

break one's stridekeep one's cool

Maintain emotional control

keep one's head · roll with the punches · stay focused · shrug it off

Family

break, breaks, broken, breaking, breaker, breakage, unbreakable, outbreak, ones

Familiarity
Top 200,000
Profile
Used worldwide · Timeless · Everyday, not technical · Rated G