Inhibitor

//ɪnˈhɪbɪtɚ// noun

noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun

1
One who, or that which, inhibits.
"I found daily meditation to be a useful inhibitor of negative thoughts."
2
a substance that retards or stops an activity wordnet
3
Any substance capable of stopping or slowing a specific chemical reaction.
"The class of antidepressants most commonly associated with sexual dysfunction is selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, or SSRIs, which treat depression by ultimately increasing levels of the neurotransmitter serotonin in the brain. […] A common solution is switching to bupropion, which is a norepinephrine-dopamine reuptake inhibitor, or NDRI."
4
Any substance capable of stopping or slowing a specific biological process.

Synonyms

Antonyms

activator catalyst

Example

"Having these STD pamphlets strewn here on the coffee table sure is an inhibitor."

Etymology

From inhibit + -or.

Related phrases

ACE inhibitor Bowman-Birk protease inhibitor TNF inhibitor enzyme inhibitor protease inhibitor proton pump inhibitor proton-pump inhibitor puberty inhibitor selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor serotonin-specific reuptake inhibitor chemical reaction

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