Word a Day
stymie
What does stymie mean?
stymie (verb): hinder or prevent the progress or accomplishment of.
Definition: Princeton WordNet 3.1.
How do you pronounce stymie?
/ˈstaɪmi/ (IPA, American English). The app reads every word aloud.
Where does stymie come from?
From the meaning in golf (where the stymie ball blocks the other ball from "seeing" the hole), perhaps from Scots stymie, stimie (“person with poor eyesight”), from Scots stime (“the least bit”).
Etymology: Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.
What are synonyms of stymie?
From Princeton WordNet 3.1.
Test yourself: do you know “stymie”?
Tap an answer to check it. The same questions the app asks.
What does “stymie” mean?
to cancel or invalidate by withdrawing or reversing
Not quite: that's what revoke means.
to totter and fall, or to lean as if about to do so
Not quite: that's what topple means.
to bear witness or testify; to guarantee or sponsor
Not quite: that's what vouch means.
hinder or prevent the progress or accomplishment of
Right! That's what “stymie” means.
Which word is closest in meaning to “stymie”?
postpone
Not quite: postpone means something else.
diminish
Not quite: diminish means something else.
obstruct
Right!
coincide
Not quite: coincide means something else.
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