handicap
handicap Lexical Profile
handicap Game Scores & Validity
• noun
A circumstance, condition, or factor that makes progress, success, or achievement unusually difficult.
"A lack of formal training proved to be a major handicap during the complex negotiations."
A contest or system in sports, such as golf or horse racing, in which an advantage or extra burden (such as a stroke allowance or added weight) is assigned to equalize the competitors' chances of winning.
"After practicing diligently all summer, she managed to lower her golf handicap to single digits."
A physical or mental condition that markedly restricts a person's ability to function, move, or perform everyday activities.
"The municipal library was renovated to ensure full accessibility for visitors with a physical handicap."
• verb
To place at a disadvantage or make progress and effective action difficult for someone or something.
"Insufficient funding threatened to handicap the research team's efforts to complete the clinical trial."
To assign equalizing weights, strokes, or scoring allowances to competitors in a sporting event, or to analyze and predict the likely winners of a contest.
"Political analysts spent weeks trying to handicap the closely contested primary election."
Word Nuance & Usage
When referring to a person's physical or mental condition, "disability" is widely preferred in contemporary usage over "handicap", which is increasingly considered dated or insensitive; however, "handicap" remains standard in sports (especially golf and horse racing) and for general non-medical disadvantages.
• Nearby Words
Word Origin & Etymology
Derived from the 17th-century English phrase "hand in cap", referring to a traditional barter and lottery game in which participants placed forfeit money into a cap before an umpire equalized the value of the items being traded.
Usage Trend
Historical frequency of usage in published text.