obstacle
noun
Simple meaning
Something that blocks your way or makes progress hard.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
ahbstuhkuhlSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈɑbstəkəl
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
Something immaterial that stands in the way and must be circumvented or surmounted
“Lack of imagination is an obstacle to one's advancement.”
Something that impedes, stands in the way of, or holds up progress, either physically or figuratively
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- B2 · Upper Intermediate (estimated)
- Frequency
- Moderately Common
- Formality
- Technical
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: Something immaterial that stands in the way and must be circumvented or surmounted
Used this way, obstacle is a common word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
“Lack of imagination is an obstacle to one's advancement.”
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Common
- Connotation
- Matter-of-fact
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Usage note
It most often appears in the pattern “obstacle to …”, which is worth copying when you use it.
Natural pattern: obstacle to …
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use obstacle
- “Lack of imagination is an obstacle to one's advancement.”noun
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
A race in which competitors must negotiate obstacles.
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Words can change meaning depending on context.
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.