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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
Jeremy Lybarger, Artforum, 2 June 2026
Rough road for solar in Ohio A mixture of a state law passed in 2021 that favors local opposition over renewable energy development and a receptive regulatory panel on the OPSB has repeatedly stymied renewable developers in Ohio.
—CBS News, 31 May 2026
The Christian war council felt stymied.
—Isaac Butler, New Yorker, 30 May 2026
Radhakrishnan mentioned a trust deficit that often seems to stymie further progress.
—John Werner, Forbes.com, 25 May 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 2 Jun. 2026.
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stymie
verb
