Impede

//ɪmˈpiːd// verb

verb ·Moderate ·High school level

Definitions

Verb
  1. 1
    To get in the way of; to hinder. transitive

    "impede someone's progress"

  2. 2
    block passage through wordnet
  3. 3
    be a hindrance or obstacle to wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
delayencumberhinderobstructrestrainretard

Example

More examples

"Obstructions near doors can impede people in an emergency."

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin impediō (“to shackle”), from pēs (“foot”) (compare pedestrian). First attested use as a verb was in William Shakespeare's Macbeth, see quotations.

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.