stymie

verb

ˈstī-mē How to pronounce stymie (audio)
Definition of stymienext
as in to impede
to create difficulty for the work or activity of the raging blizzard stymied the rescuers' attempts to find the stranded mountain climbers

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of stymie Ohtani was outdueled by Padres starter Michael King, who stymied the Dodgers’ offense, allowing one hit and a walk over six shutout innings. — Katie Woo, New York Times, 4 July 2026 Sometimes, were stymied because the conduct is based, the servers are based, outside of certainly Manhattan, but in many instances outside the United States. — Tim McNicholas, CBS News, 1 July 2026 These are all major breakthroughs for a soccer-loving continent that had been underrepresented on the sport’s biggest stage and whose soccer success was often stymied by financial struggles and administrative corruption. — Michelle Kaufman, Miami Herald, 1 July 2026 Putin has described the attacks on Russian energy as an effort by Ukraine to distract attention from its losses on the battlefield, although analysts say the advance of Russian forces has been stymied in recent months. — ABC News, 3 July 2026 See All Example Sentences for stymie
Recent Examples of Synonyms for stymie
  1. impede
  2. hinder
  3. hamper
  4. embarrass
  5. obstruct
Verb
  • Health care workers who impede these rituals for infection-control reasons often face hostility and violence; clinics have been attacked and burned down during this outbreak, furthering viral spread.
    — Alice Park, Time, 2 July 2026
  • These vehicles were blocking and impeding fire operations, and several were non-operational and required tow truck assistance for removal.
    — Jeff Nguyen, CBS News, 1 July 2026
Definition of impede
Verb
  • He was charged with hindering apprehension, obstruction of justice and tampering with evidence in connection with this case.
    — Tom Ignudo, CBS News, 2 July 2026
  • The Great American State Fair kicked off last week, though the 16-day event has been hindered by weather shutdowns, technical difficulties and low attendance.
    — Antonio Pequeño IV, Forbes.com, 2 July 2026
Definition of hinder
Verb
  • The decision severely hampered local planning for America’s 250th anniversary, disrupting history projects, museums and educational programs nationwide.
    — Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 3 July 2026
  • Chwalińska took a medical timeout for the injury at the end of the game, and she was clearly hampered by it for the rest of the match.
    — Charlie Eccleshare, New York Times, 3 July 2026
Definition of hamper
Verb
  • The Chicago White Sox, a team many left for dead at the start of the year, embarrassed the Kansas City Royals Friday night, 22-1.
    — Zach Dean OutKick, FOXNews.com, 27 June 2026
  • But combined with Disney‘s embarrassing The Mandalorian and Grogu influencer stunt that backfired, a movie’s first reactions on social media are increasingly being met with equal amounts of fan skepticism.
    — James Hibberd, HollywoodReporter, 26 June 2026
Definition of embarrass
Verb
  • Don't tail large vehicles closely - Trucks or buses can kick up a water spray that obstructs visibility.
    — NC Weather Bot, Charlotte Observer, 5 July 2026
  • Don't tail large vehicles closely - Trucks or buses can kick up a water spray that obstructs visibility.
    — KANSAS CITY STAR WEATHER BOT, Kansas City Star, 4 July 2026
Definition of obstruct

Browse Nearby Words

stylized
stymie
stymied
See all Nearby Words

Podcast

Theme music by Joshua Stamper ©2006 New Jerusalem Music/ASCAP

Cite this Entry

“Stymie.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/stymie. Accessed 8 Jul. 2026.

Copy Citation

More from Merriam-Webster on stymie

Nglish: Translation of stymie for Spanish Speakers

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of gambol

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Is that lie 'bald-faced' or 'bold-faced'?

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?

Commonly Misspelled Words

How to Use Em Dashes (—), En Dashes (–) , and Hyphens (-)
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Longest Long Words List

One-Word Oxymorons: Bittersweet, Spendthrift, and More

Ten Words Ending with a Silent ‘T’

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World
See More

Popular

See More

Is that lie 'bald-faced' or 'bold-faced'?

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Longest Long Words List
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
hangman letters and game
Hangman Lightning Round Figure out which word fits in the blanks.
See All