obstacle

noun

ob·​sta·​cle ˈäb-sti-kəl 

-ˌsti-

: something that impedes progress or achievement

swerved to avoid an obstacle in the road

Lack of experience proved to be an obstacle in her job search.

… elders … often facing daily medical, social, and psychological obstacles.

—Vicki Bloom and B. B. Green-Field

Synonyms of obstacle

• hurdle
• obstruction
• embarrassment
• barrier

Examples of obstacle in a Sentence

He overcame the obstacles of poverty and neglect.

They must overcome a number of obstacles before the restaurant can be opened.

Lack of experience is a major obstacle for her opponent.

She swerved to avoid an obstacle in the road.

Recent Examples on the Web

The requirement to print ballots one month before Election Day does not present an insurmountable obstacle to removing candidates; modern technology could facilitate supplemental ballots even within government bureaucracies, making the current restriction outdated. —Los Angeles Times, 20 Apr. 2026

In 2023, Meta, a member of AOMedia, named client-side hardware decoding as AV1’s biggest obstacle. —ArsTechnica, 20 Apr. 2026

For movies, weed existed in its own sort of ecosystem as a world of petty rebellion and elastic logic, where characters could spiral into genuine obstacles without necessarily becoming irredeemable people. —Alison Foreman, IndieWire, 20 Apr. 2026

Whatever obstacle that character has to face somehow I am being asked to look at that in my own life. —Emily Zemler, Rolling Stone, 20 Apr. 2026

Word History

Etymology

Middle English, from Anglo-French, from Latin obstaculum, from obstare to stand in front of, from ob- in the way + stare to stand — more at ob-, stand

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined above

Phrases Containing obstacle

• obstacle course
• obstacle race

Kids Definition

obstacle

noun

ob·​sta·​cle ˈäb-sti-kəl 

: something that stands in the way of progress or achievement : hindrance

drove around the obstacles in the road

didn't let shortness be an obstacle to a basketball career