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Stymie: meaning, example and synonyms

Stymiev. To obstruct or block progress, leaving someone unable to proceed.

Flashcard for Stymie (verb): to obstruct or block progress, leaving someone unable to proceed. Example: Researchers were stymied for years by a protein too unstable to crystallize, until a new imaging technique let them study it in solution. Synonyms: thwart, obstruct, frustrate, impede. Antonyms: facilitate, enable, assist, expedite. Memory tip: In golf, a stymie was a ball blocking another's path to the hole. Illustration: a hiker in a jacket and boots standing before a huge fallen boulder that completely blocks a narrow mountain trail, hands on hips.

Example

Researchers were stymied for years by a protein too unstable to crystallize, until a new imaging technique let them study it in solution.

Part of speech
verb
Synonyms
thwart, obstruct, frustrate, impede
Antonyms
facilitate, enable, assist, expedite
Memory tip
In golf, a stymie was a ball blocking another's path to the hole.

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Check yourself: Stymie in context

Pick the word that best completes each text.

Question 1

Investigators were ______ by the missing records, unable to trace where the funds had gone once the company's archive was destroyed in the fire.

Question 2

Mountain passes buried under snow for half the year ______ every attempt to build a trade route between the two valleys until the tunnel was finished.

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