Meanings
plural hindrances · alternative archaic hinderance · alternative obsolete hindraunce
- Something which hinders: something that holds back or causes problems with something else.
High-heeled shoes may be fashionable, but they can also be a hindrance to walking.
1 more example
The L.C.C. [London County Council] considers viaducts in London objectionable and a hindrance to town planning and would like to abolish all the Southern Railway lines on viaducts in South London. [Nothing much happened, they still exist.]
1944 January and February, C. F. Cobon, “The County of London Plan”, in Railway Magazine, page 24 - The state or act of hindering something.
Your hindrance of this process will not be tolerated.
Synonyms & antonyms
nounsomething immaterial that interferes with or delays action or progress
nounany obstruction that impedes or is burdensome
nounthe act of hindering or obstructing or impeding
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Middle Englishhinderance
- Englishhindrance
From Middle English hinderance, hinderaunce, hindraunce, hynderaunce, hynderawnce, hynderawns, hyndrance; equivalent to hinder + -ance.
More words from Middle English
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Ancient Greek ἐγκοπή, κώλυμα
- ἐγκοπή (enkopḗ)something which hinders
- κώλυμα (kṓluma)something which hinders
Bulgarian пречка, спънка
- пречка (prečka)something which hinders
- спънка (spănka)something which hinders
- препятствие (prepjatstvie)something which hinders
Catalan obstacle, entrebanc
- obstaclesomething which hinders
- entrebancsomething which hinders
- nosasomething which hinders
Chinese Mandarin 障礙 /障碍, 阻力
- 障礙 /障碍 (zhàng'ài)something which hinders
- 阻力 (zǔlì)something which hinders
- 阻礙 /阻碍 (zǔ'ài)something which hinders
Czech překážka
- překážkasomething which hinders
Dutch hindernis, obstakel
- hindernissomething which hinders
- obstakelsomething which hinders
Esperanto malhelpo
- malhelposomething which hinders
Finnish este, haitta
- estesomething which hinders
- haittasomething which hinders
French entrave, obstacle
- entravesomething which hinders
- obstaclesomething which hinders
German Behinderung, Hindernis
- Behinderungsomething which hinders
- Hindernissomething which hinders
Greek κώλυμα, εμπόδιο
- κώλυμα (kólyma)something which hinders
- εμπόδιο (empódio)something which hinders
Hebrew עַכָּבָה
- עַכָּבָה (akkavá)something which hinders
Hindi विघ्न, बाधा
- विघ्न (vighna)something which hinders
- बाधा (bādhā)something which hinders
- अड़चन (aṛcan)something which hinders
Hungarian akadály
- akadálysomething which hinders
Icelandic hindrun
- hindrunsomething which hinders
Indonesian halangan
- halangansomething which hinders
Irish éaradh
- éaradhsomething which hinders
Italian impaccio, ostacolo
- impacciosomething which hinders
- ostacolosomething which hinders
- impedimentosomething which hinders
Japanese 邪魔, 支障
- 邪魔 (jama)something which hinders
- 支障 (shishō)something which hinders
- 妨害 (bōgai)something which hinders
Korean 방해
- 방해 (banghae)something which hinders
Latin ōbex, obiectus
- ōbexsomething which hinders
- obiectussomething which hinders
- impedīmentumsomething which hinders
Latvian šķērslis
- šķērslissomething which hinders
Māori whakararu
- whakararusomething which hinders
Polish przeszkoda
- przeszkodasomething which hinders
Portuguese obstáculo, obstrução
- obstáculosomething which hinders
- obstruçãosomething which hinders
- entravesomething which hinders
- impedimentosomething which hinders
- obicesomething which hinders
- estorvosomething which hinders
- empecilhosomething which hinders
- barreirasomething which hinders
- freiosomething which hinders
Romanian piedică, impediment
- piedicăsomething which hinders
- impedimentsomething which hinders
- obstacolsomething which hinders
Russian поме́ха, препя́тствие
- поме́ха (poméxa)something which hinders
- препя́тствие (prepjátstvije)something which hinders
Scottish Gaelic amaladh, bacadh
- amaladhsomething which hinders
- bacadhsomething which hinders
- èisleansomething which hinders
Spanish obstáculo, rémora
- obstáculosomething which hinders
- rémorasomething which hinders
- trabasomething which hinders
- impedimentosomething which hinders
Thai อุปสรรค, ขวากหนาม
- อุปสรรค (ùp-bpà-sàk)something which hinders
- ขวากหนาม (kwàak-nǎam)something which hinders
- มารผจญ (maan-pà-jon)something which hinders
Vietnamese vật cản, cản trở
- vật cảnsomething which hinders
- cản trởsomething which hinders
Cite this entry
hindrance. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/hindrance
“hindrance.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/hindrance. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “hindrance,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/hindrance.
Source: hindrance on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.