obstacle

B1 Topic:General Vocabulary

US /ˈɑbstəkəl/ UK /ˈɒbstəkəl/ See IPA manual

Freq #9143

Meanings

1

noun
Something that makes it difficult to do or achieve something.

Lack of money was the biggest obstacle to her plans.
2

noun
An object that blocks your way and must be gone around or removed.

The runners had to jump over several obstacles.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · something that makes it... barrier hindrance hurdle impediment obstruction

Word family

Forms obstacles

Appears in

Phrases (1)

See all

obstacle race
a race requiring competitors to get past barriers along the course

Noun + noun

Proverbs (2)

See all

Etymology

From Middle English obstacle, from Old French obstacle, from Latin obstāculum.

obstacle Middle English obstāculum Latin

View etymology graph ->

Topics

General Vocabulary

External links

markdown