impede

I1M3P3E1D2E1
/ɪmˈpiːd/

verb

To get in the way of; to hinder.

“impede someone's progress”

Less commonScrabble 11

Meanings

verbimpede (third-person singular simple present impedes, present participle impeding, simple past and past participle impeded)

present singular third person impedes · participle present impeding · participle past impeded · past impeded

  1. transitiveTo get in the way of; to hinder.

    impede someone's progress

    3 more examples

    That I may powre my Spirits in thine Eare, / And chastise with the valour of my Tongue / All that impeides thee from the Golden Round, / Which Fate and Metaphysicall ayde doth seeme / To haue thee crown'd withall.

    c. 1606 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Macbeth”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene v]

    “Everything had been ticking along like a fine clock, even with Bornhald impeding, until this new one appeared with his Gray Men. Ordeith scrubbed bony fingers through greasy hair. Why could not his dreams at least be his own?”

    1992, Robert Jordan, “Chapter 31: Assurances”, in The Shadow Rising (The Wheel of Time; 4), London: Orbit Books, published 2021, →ISBN, page 501

    The human-machine imbalance made Sellers concerned that the modern thirst for AI-powered optimization was starting to impede human interaction.

    2025 July 2, Lisa Bonos, Danielle Abril, “No one likes meetings. They’re sending their AI note takers instead.”, in The Washington Post, →ISSN, archived from the original on 02 Jul 2025

    Synonyms: hinder

Synonyms & antonyms

verbTo get in the way of; to hinder.

Similar

More synonyms by meaning

verbbe a hindrance or obstacle to

Similar

verbblock passage through

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

  1. Latinimpediō“to shackle”
  2. Englishimpede

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.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Ancient Greek κωλύω, ἐγκόπτω
  • κωλύω (kōlúō)to get in the way of; to hinder
  • ἐγκόπτω (enkóptō)to get in the way of; to hinder
Arabic عَرْقَلَ, عَوَّقَ
  • عَرْقَلَ (ʕarqala)to get in the way of; to hinder
  • عَوَّقَ (ʕawwaqa)to get in the way of; to hinder
Bulgarian преча, спирам
  • преча (preča)to get in the way of; to hinder
  • спирам (spiram)to get in the way of; to hinder
  • задържам (zadăržam)to get in the way of; to hinder
Catalan impedir
  • impedirto get in the way of; to hinder
Chinese Cantonese 阻住
  • 阻住 (zo² zyu⁶)to get in the way of; to hinder
Chinese Mandarin 阻礙 /阻碍
  • 阻礙 /阻碍 (zǔ'ài)to get in the way of; to hinder
Czech překážet, bránit
  • překážetto get in the way of; to hinder
  • bránitto get in the way of; to hinder
  • zabránitto get in the way of; to hinder
Dutch belemmeren, in de weg staan
  • belemmerento get in the way of; to hinder
  • in de weg staanto get in the way of; to hinder
  • belettento get in the way of; to hinder
  • hinderento get in the way of; to hinder
Finnish haitata
  • haitatato get in the way of; to hinder
French entraver
  • entraverto get in the way of; to hinder
German behindern, erschweren
  • behindernto get in the way of; to hinder
  • erschwerento get in the way of; to hinder
  • hemmento get in the way of; to hinder
  • hindernto get in the way of; to hinder
  • vereitelnto get in the way of; to hinder
Hungarian gátol
  • gátolto get in the way of; to hinder
Italian impedire, ostacolare
  • impedireto get in the way of; to hinder
  • ostacolareto get in the way of; to hinder
  • intralciareto get in the way of; to hinder
Latin impediō
  • impediōto get in the way of; to hinder
Māori rore, whakahōtaetae
  • roreto get in the way of; to hinder
  • whakahōtaetaeto get in the way of; to hinder
  • taupareto get in the way of; to hinder
  • kaiwaengato get in the way of; to hinder
Norwegian hindre
  • hindreto get in the way of; to hinder
Persian بازداشتن
  • بازداشتن (bâzdâštan)to get in the way of; to hinder
Portuguese impedir
  • impedirto get in the way of; to hinder
Romanian împiedica
  • împiedicato get in the way of; to hinder
Russian меша́ть, препя́тствовать
  • меша́ть (mešátʹ)to get in the way of; to hinder
  • препя́тствовать (prepjátstvovatʹ)to get in the way of; to hinder
Spanish impedir, empecer
  • impedirto get in the way of; to hinder
  • empecerto get in the way of; to hinder
Turkish engellemek
  • engellemekto get in the way of; to hinder
Vietnamese cản trở, ngăn cản
  • cản trởto get in the way of; to hinder
  • ngăn cảnto get in the way of; to hinder

Rhymes & wordplay

Rhymes with impede

All rhymes →
Cite this entry
APA

impede. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/impede

MLA

“impede.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/impede. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “impede,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/impede.

Source: impede on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.