stymie
stymie Lexical Profile
stymie Game Scores & Validity
• verb
To prevent, obstruct, or hinder the progress of a plan, process, or person.
"Supply chain disruptions continued to stymie the company's expansion plans throughout the year."
• noun
A situation or problem presenting such difficulties as to discourage or defeat any attempt to deal with or resolve it.
"The sudden loss of funding created an unexpected stymie for the research team."
In golf (historically), a situation on the putting green where an opponent's ball lies directly in the line of play between the player's ball and the hole.
"Before the rule was abolished in 1952, a golfer facing a stymie had to chip over or curve the ball around the opponent's ball."
Word Nuance & Usage
The present participle of "stymie" can be spelled either "stymying" or "stymieing", making it one of the few English verbs to commonly retain both the "i" and the "e" before "-ing".
• Rhymes for stymie
• Nearby Words
Word Origin & Etymology
Originating in 19th-century Scottish golf terminology, the word likely derives from the Scots dialect word "stymie", referring to a person who cannot see well or the slightest glimpse of something. After golf's governing bodies abolished the stymie rule in 1952, the figurative verb sense meaning to thwart or obstruct became dominant.