stalemate

C2+ Topic:Entertainment & Leisure

US /ˈsteɪlˌmeɪt/ UK /ˈsteɪlˌmeɪt/ See IPA manual

noun verb

Meanings

1

noun
a deadlock in which no party can make progress

The negotiations ground to a frustrating stalemate.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · a deadlock in which no... deadlock impassestandoffgridlockstandstillstand-off

Opposites

breakthrough progress resolution

Word family

Related forms stale mate

Etymology

From the chess term, compounding obsolete 'stale' (a stalemate position, from Anglo-Norman 'estale', a fixed position) with 'mate' (checkmate, from Persian via Arabic 'shah mat', the king is dead).

estale Old French

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Entertainment & Leisure Word Formation & Derivatives

# stalemate

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** noun, verb
**IPA (US):** ˈsteɪlˌmeɪt
**IPA (UK):** ˈsteɪlˌmeɪt

## Meanings
1. a deadlock in which no party can make progress

## Examples
- The negotiations ground to a frustrating stalemate.

## Synonyms
- deadlock
- impasse
- standoff
- gridlock
- standstill
- stand-off

## Antonyms
- breakthrough
- progress
- resolution

## Related Forms
- stale
- mate

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: estale

## Etymology
From the chess term, compounding obsolete 'stale' (a stalemate position, from Anglo-Norman 'estale', a fixed position) with 'mate' (checkmate, from Persian via Arabic 'shah mat', the king is dead).

## AI Etymology
Stalemate is from the chess term, compounding obsolete 'stale' (a stalemate position, from Anglo-Norman 'estale', a fixed position) with 'mate' (checkmate, from Persian via Arabic 'shah mat', the king is dead). Important recorded forms include estale (Old French). Morphologically, the word preserves a built structure whose named elements carry the historical sense into English. The modern sense continues the older lexical line without requiring a separate origin. In current use it covers a deadlock in which no party can make progress. The wider family includes related words such as stale and mate.

## Topics
- Entertainment & Leisure
- Word Formation & Derivatives

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stalemate

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