How to Use impair in a Sentence

impair

verb
  • Smoking can impair your health.
  • His memory was so impaired by age that he often forgot where he was.
  • Drinking impairs a person's ability to think clearly.
  • This can impair your bone strength.
    — Ruth Jessen Hickman, Health, 1 June 2026
  • Neither of the drivers were impaired at the time of the crash.
    — Gwendolyn Wu, Houston Chronicle, 17 Nov. 2019
  • When placed over a cloth mask, a costume mask can impair the ability to breathe.
    — David Lindquist, The Indianapolis Star, 15 Oct. 2020
  • In a video from the bar that night, DJ does not appear to be impaired.
    — James Brown, CBS News, 22 June 2019
  • This can impair blood flow out of the heart and cause fluid to back up in your lungs and throughout your body.
    — Angela Ryan Lee, Health, 28 Dec. 2024
  • Running too strong a tire will impair ride quality and grip.
    — Wes Siler, Outside, 16 Sep. 2025
  • The driver was not believed to have been impaired, police said.
    — Kristina Davis, San Diego Union-Tribune, 19 May 2025
  • Jackson was not impaired and speed was not factor, police said.
    — Jeff A. Chamer, Charlotte Observer, 30 Sep. 2025
  • Ten percent impairs performance and leaves you dizzy and faint.
    — Alex Hutchinson, Outside, 25 Sep. 2025
  • It is not known whether the man was impaired or intoxicated at the time of the crash.
    — Samantha Ketterer, Houston Chronicle, 12 July 2018
  • Beta-blockers slow the heart rate and impair sweating.
    — John Samuels, Forbes.com, 12 June 2026
  • There were no witnesses, and it is not known if he was impaired by drugs or alcohol.
    — Karen Kucher, San Diego Union-Tribune, 24 Mar. 2024
  • This does not impair my enjoyment of the Gorn episodes in the prequel.
    — Scott D. Pierce, The Salt Lake Tribune, 17 Sep. 2023
  • All of the students on the tour are legally blind or visually impaired.
    — Emily Himes, miamiherald, 2 July 2018
  • But most people may not stop and think about all the other substances that can impair driving.
    — Amy Marturana Winderl, SELF, 19 Oct. 2020
  • The comparative calm on the crime front has done nothing to impair sales.
    — Andrew Brinker, BostonGlobe.com, 30 July 2022
  • Cold, dry air can also impair the second and third tiers of the body’s immune response.
    — Megan Molteni, Wired, 12 Nov. 2020
  • Smaller clots may block smaller vessels and can still impair breathing and strain the heart.
    — Katia Hetter, CNN Money, 18 Feb. 2026
  • The classroom was full of students, all of them blind or visually impaired.
    — Lizzie Johnson, San Francisco Chronicle, 3 June 2018
  • This could impair your ability to exercise and play sports a bit.
    — Bruce Y. Lee, Forbes.com, 15 Sep. 2025
  • Not once, not twice, but several times where clearly he has been impaired while driving.
    — Sydney Topf, The Washington Examiner, 3 Apr. 2026
  • What that does is ensure that downstream water users are not impaired by our use of the roof runoff at this building.
    — Olivia Young, CBS News, 13 June 2026
  • Teachers of the visually impaired could use the videos, as well as kids or adults who want to teach themselves to code.
    — Ally Marotti, chicagotribune.com, 17 May 2018
  • The driver was cited and a released after being found to not be impaired.
    — Houston Chronicle, 17 June 2019
  • The ants in question were a species that is known to damage trees and is presumed to impair tissue healing.
    — The Economist, 8 Aug. 2019
  • The driver remained at the scene and did not appear to be impaired, the sheriff’s office said.
    — oregonlive, 1 Sep. 2019
  • Her brother had fluid build-up in his brain that sometimes impaired his ability to walk.
    — Sophie Comeau, NBC news, 16 Dec. 2025

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'impair.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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