Synonyms of hobbling

hobbling

verb

present participle of hobble

1

as in hampering

to create difficulty for the work or activity of

we were hobbled by the snowstorm from getting out to do some Christmas shopping

Synonyms & Similar Words

• hampering
• impeding
• hindering
• embarrassing
• obstructing
• handicapping
• blocking
• cramping
• delaying
• inhibiting
• stymieing
• shackling
• handcuffing
• encumbering
• clogging
• disrupting
• restraining
• interfering (with)
• fettering
• constraining
• tying
• holding back
• tying up
• thwarting
• trammeling
• hog-tying
• frustrating
• short-circuiting
• balking
• reining
• checking
• manacling
• curbing
• stifling
• binding
• retarding
• strangling
• giving a hard time
• retaining
• choking
• tethering
• cramping one's style
• braking
• holding up
• chaining
• barricading
• blockading
• haltering
• arresting
• confining
• sabotaging
• leashing
• stumping
• baffling
• derailing
• smothering
• suffocating
• miring
• bogging (down)
• roadblocking
• foiling
• repressing
• muzzling
• suppressing
• hedging (in)
• hemming (in)

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• helping
• assisting
• aiding
• facilitating
• opening
• clearing
• freeing
• releasing
• liberating
• promoting
• encouraging
• unplugging
• loosening
• unstopping
• smoothing
• untying
• unclogging
• making way
• furthering

2

as in limping

to walk while favoring one leg

I hobbled home with a twisted ankle

Synonyms & Similar Words

• limping
• halting
• shuffling
• stumbling
• faltering
• tottering
• shambling
• lurching
• staggering
• floundering
• blundering
• wavering
• hitching
• wobbling
• teetering
• doddering

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• striding
• sailing
• gliding
• breezing

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of hobbling

Galapagos tortoises live so long that one of them hobbling around today could have encountered Charles Darwin in 1835. — Venki Ramakrishnan, Scientific American, 15 Sep. 2026

Ohtani was seen shaking out his arm between swings and hobbling off and on for months. — Fabian Ardaya, New York Times, 10 Sep. 2026

Brendan McDermid | Reuters A Goldman Sachs partner leading one of the bank’s flagship artificial intelligence projects warned that AI’s spread across Wall Street risks hobbling the thinking capabilities of the next generation of financiers. — Hugh Son, CNBC, 24 Aug. 2026

Gelof, already on the ground, immediately grabbed his knee in pain before hobbling back to his position. — Sean Campbell, Sacbee.com, 10 July 2026

For much of the game in Atlanta, Egypt was in control, hobbling Argentina early. — Jasmine Garsd, NPR, 7 July 2026

Koné, 24, could be seen hobbling onto the field on his good leg to celebrate with his teammates after Stephen Eustáquio scored a game-winning shot in extra time. — Jaclyn Hendricks, PEOPLE, 2 July 2026

This unequal setup ensures that migrants and refugees remain contained in the countries least equipped to host them, which only works when aid functions as the grease that keeps the system hobbling along. — Kelsey Norman, The Conversation, 18 June 2026

The consequences ranged from hobbling Reconstruction to hastening the end of the Ottoman Empire to poisonous deflation, and the blundering response by governments helped shape the modern world. — Air Mail, 6 June 2026