hinder
Slow things down
Hinder means to slow down, obstruct, or make difficult.
It implies interference with progress rather than complete prevention: Bad weather hindered the rescue efforts.
You can hinder a person, a process, or an outcome.
The word suggests an obstacle that impedes rather than stops entirely—hindered progress is still progress, just harder won.
Solid mass, or impede
- impedeTo obstruct movement
- hamperObstruct or clothes basket
- stymieTo obstruct or baffle
- encumberTo burden or hinder
balk · clog · barricade · bottleneck · congest · dam · choke · cramp
Maximum allowed extent
- constrainTo limit or restrict
- curtailTo cut short
- confineRestrict to boundaries
- restrainLimit freedom of movement
inhibit · suppress · stifle · shackle · fetter · trammel · bind · bridle
Interrupt and disorder
- meddleInterfere without invitation
- intrudeEnter uninvited
- interveneCome between opposing sides
- interposeInsert between other things
intercede · butt in · obstruct · interrupt · disturb · tamper · complicate · encroach
Cease all motion
- precludeMake impossible in advance
- forestallPrevent by prior action
- avertPrevent or deflect
- preemptAct to prevent
obviate · prohibit · forbid · disallow · ban · bar · deter · ward off
block
Solid mass, or impede
encumber · balk · clog · barricade · bottleneck · congest · dam · choke · cramp · throttle
limit
Maximum allowed extent
restrain · inhibit · suppress · stifle · shackle · fetter · trammel · bind · bridle · rein in
disrupt
Interrupt and disorder
interpose · intercede · butt in · obstruct · interrupt · disturb · tamper · complicate · encroach · infringe
stop
Cease all motion
preempt · obviate · prohibit · forbid · disallow · ban · bar · deter · ward off · stave off
foil
Defeat a plan
undermine · scuttle · spoil · defeat · confound · checkmate · outmaneuver · circumvent · counter · neutralize
slow
Lacking in speed
set back · hold up · bog down · drag · lag · prolong · protract · dawdle · tarry · decelerate
- in hindsightReviewing past events now
- hind legsAnimal's back limbs
- hind limbsBack pair of legs
- twenty-twenty hindsightPerfect understanding afterward
- hindsight biasIllusion of prior knowledge
- with the benefit of hindsight
behind, hindrance, hind, hindsight, hindered, hindering, hinders, hindmost, unhindered