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Golf was being played in Scotland as early as the 15th century, but it wasn't until the 19th century that the sport really caught on in England and North America. It was also in the 19th century that the word stymie entered English as a noun referring to a golfing situation in which one player's ball lies between another ball and the hole on the putting green, thereby blocking the line of play. Later, stymie came to be used as a verb meaning "to bring into the position of, or impede by, a stymie." By the early 20th century, the verb was being applied in similarly vexing non-golf contexts.
Examples of stymie in a Sentence
Simone McCarthy, CNN Money, 2 May 2026
To stymie that financial bleeding, the county proposed Measure A, a tax measure approved by voters last November.
—Luis Melecio-Zambrano, Mercury News, 2 May 2026
Sable’s shares fell 61% in 2025 as its years long effort to restart oil production at a cluster of rigs off the coast of California was stymied by local and state-level opposition.
—Bloomberg, Oc Register, 1 May 2026
Initially stymied by the pandemic in 2020, it was revived two years later and there had been nothing in the country like it.
—Los Angeles Times, 29 Apr. 2026
See All Example Sentences for stymie
Cite this Entry
“Stymie.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/stymie. Accessed 6 May. 2026.
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stymie
verb
