hinder

verb

budget cuts have hindered our progress

Syn:

hamper, obstruct, impede, inhibit, retard, balk, prevent, thwart, foil, curb, delay, arrest, interfere with, set back, slow down, hobble, hold back, hold up, stop, halt; restrict, restrain, constrain, block, check, curtail, frustrate, cramp, handicap, cripple, hamstring; informal stymie, throw a wrench in the works

See note at prohibit

Ant:

facilitate

••

encumber, hamper, impede, obstruct, prevent

If you're about to set off on a cross-country trip by car and wake up to find that a foot of snow has fallen overnight, it would be correct to say that the weather has hindered you. But if you're trying to drive through a snowstorm and are forced to creep along at a snail's pace behind a snowplow, it would be correct to say you were impeded. To hinder is to delay or hold something back, especially something that is under way or is about to start (she entered college but was hindered by poor study habits); it connotes a thwarting of progress, either deliberate or accidental. Impede, on the other hand, means to slow the progress of someone or something by a deliberate act; it implies that the obstacles are more serious and suggests that movement or progress is so slow that it is painful or frustrating (the shoes were so tight they impeded his circulation). Both hamper and encumber involve hindering by outside forces. To hamper is to impede by placing restraints on someone or something so as to make action difficult (hampered by family responsibilities), while encumber means to hinder by the placing of a burden (encumbered with several heavy suitcases). To obstruct is to place obstacles in the way, often bringing progress or movement to a complete halt (obstruct traffic; obstruct justice). Prevent suggests precautionary or restraining measures (the police prevented him from entering the burning building) and is also used to describe a nonhuman agency or cause that hinders something (the snow prevented us from leaving that day).