noun ·Moderate ·College level

Definitions

Noun

1. 1
   Something that impedes, stands in the way of, or holds up progress, either physically or figuratively

   "A big obstacle to understanding the manual was that it had been poorly translated from the Japanese."

2. 2
   an obstruction that stands in the way (and must be removed or surmounted or circumvented) wordnet
3. 3
   something immaterial that stands in the way and must be circumvented or surmounted wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms

barrierdifficultyhindrancehurdleimpedimentobstruction

Antonyms

All antonyms

benefit

Example

More examples

"The scandal was an obstacle to his promotion."

Etymology

From Middle English obstacle, from Old French obstacle, from Latin obstāculum.

Related phrases

obstacle courseobstacle raceobstacle-ridden

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