1
as in disadvantages
a feature of someone or something that creates difficulty for achieving success
her natural shyness was not a handicap when she played chess
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in obstacles
something that makes movement or progress difficult
her uncomfortable shoes became a handicap on the walking tour of the city, as she often had to sit and rest her sore feet
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in hampers
to create difficulty for the work or activity of
the baseball player's small size did not handicap him in the least
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of handicaps
Jonathan M. Gitlin, ArsTechnica, 12 Sep. 2025
Secondary school students in less affluent states will find themselves with substandard educational offerings that may serve as handicaps when those students compete with those who have benefited from enriched educational opportunities provided in wealthier states.
—Blake D. Morant, Forbes.com, 25 Aug. 2025
All of the electric buses are equipped with accessories for students with handicaps.
—Harley Walls, Arkansas Online, 7 Aug. 2025
Noun
The cars' real handicaps were a lack of liquid cooling for the battery packs.
—Jonathan M. Gitlin, ArsTechnica, 12 Sep. 2025
Secondary school students in less affluent states will find themselves with substandard educational offerings that may serve as handicaps when those students compete with those who have benefited from enriched educational opportunities provided in wealthier states.
—Blake D. Morant, Forbes.com, 25 Aug. 2025
All of the electric buses are equipped with accessories for students with handicaps.
—Harley Walls, Arkansas Online, 7 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for handicaps
Noun
-
Jeffrey Hall Professor, University of Kansas While some users report positive effects of having an AI companion, there are disadvantages and even dangers to having a relationship with one.—
Gili Malinsky,
CNBC,
6 Oct. 2025
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In her book, Marin frames her economic disadvantages as an essential part of her political education.—
Jennifer Wilson,
New Yorker,
6 Oct. 2025
Noun
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Many obstacles remain to a lasting peace — including whether Israel will pull its military entirely out of Gaza, whether Hamas will disarm and who will govern Gaza — but the peace plan may already be shifting the debate around calls to ban and boycott culture coming out of Israel.—
Scott Roxborough,
HollywoodReporter,
14 Oct. 2025
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The batarangs could hit long-range targets, while the bat-claw brought far-away enemies to Batman and could yank obstacles off walls.—
Jordan Moreau,
Variety,
14 Oct. 2025
Verb
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Maintain a safe distance from large vehicles - Trucks or buses can produce a water spray that hampers visibility.—
NC Weather Bot,
Charlotte Observer,
15 Oct. 2025
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Maintain a safe distance from large vehicles - Trucks or buses can produce a water spray that hampers visibility.—
CA Weather Bot,
Sacbee.com,
14 Oct. 2025
Noun
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But Bear Stearns was leveraged up to 25 times with very long-term assets funded by short-term liabilities, Kotowski said.—
Spencer Kimball,
CNBC,
17 Oct. 2025
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Undue Medical Debt, a national group working on the effort and taking over some hospital liabilities, will send at least 255,000 notices this week to other recipients.—
Khaleda Rahman,
MSNBC Newsweek,
14 Oct. 2025
Noun
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Deployment barriers and open challenges Despite the promise, significant hurdles remain before enzymatic recycling can go industrial.—
Srishti Gupta,
Interesting Engineering,
16 Oct. 2025
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Challenges and next steps Beyond regulation, the biggest hurdles are price, production scale and consumer acceptance, McClements said.—
Deirdre Bardolf,
FOXNews.com,
16 Oct. 2025
Verb
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At the same time, the Administration has put pressure on tech firms to take down activity that hinders its agenda.—
Chad de Guzman,
Time,
15 Oct. 2025
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In addition to delivering high-quality search results, this method hinders search-engine cheating; artificially boosting your web page by putting up a thousand pages linking to it won’t accomplish much if those pages have low status.—
Jack Murtagh,
Scientific American,
11 Oct. 2025
Noun
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If possible, position yourself in a flat, open area with minimal tree cover, rocks, cliffs, or other obstructions that may block the sound of the whistle.—
Owen Clarke,
Outside,
1 Oct. 2025
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In 2025, Roborock launched a vacuum cleaner with a robotic arm for moving socks and other obstructions out of the way.—
Evelyn Cheng,
CNBC,
21 Aug. 2025
Verb
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If a mental image only impedes the human’s process of emulation, why should her mindedness make Celmins’s web less natural than the spider’s?—
Harmon Siegel,
Artforum,
1 Oct. 2025
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Let go of whatever impedes your growth and progress.—
Georgia Nicols,
Denver Post,
23 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Handicaps.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/handicaps. Accessed 20 Oct. 2025.
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