stymie
Americanverb (used with object)
noun
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a situation or problem presenting such difficulties as to discourage or defeat any attempt to deal with or resolve it.
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Golf. (on a putting green) an instance of a ball's lying on a direct line between the cup and the ball of an opponent about to putt.
verb
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to hinder or thwart
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golf to impede with a stymie
noun
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golf (formerly) a situation on the green in which an opponent's ball is blocking the line between the hole and the ball about to be played: an obstructing ball may now be lifted and replaced by a marker
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a situation of obstruction
Etymology
Origin of stymie
First recorded in 1855–60; origin uncertain
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
While options exist already for individuals to open their own retirement plans through IRAs, people often get stymied by the administrative hurdles and their own inertia and fail to create such accounts, experts said.
From MarketWatch
While options exist already for individuals to open their own retirement plans through IRAs, people often get stymied by the administrative hurdles and their own inertia and fail to create such accounts, experts said.
From MarketWatch
Neither stymied nor frustrated, the owl’s eyes grew a half size bigger and she let out a squeak of excitement.
From Literature
Officials have not yet released the identities of any victims, and extreme weather in the area has continued to stymie efforts to search for the missing body, or even to retrieve those already confirmed dead.
From Los Angeles Times
Rescuers, stymied by inclement weather, so far have located the bodies of seven women and a man killed in the avalanche.
From BBC
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
