as in reversal
a change in status for the worse usually temporarily
The explorers persevered despite suffering setbacks that would have discouraged lesser souls.
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in to hold back
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of setback
Sydney Franklin, Cincinnati Enquirer, 9 Nov. 2025
Other low-cost missions flown under the NASA’s SIMPLEx program have failed due to a range of setbacks, including Lunar Trailblazer, which ended due to communications problems, and LunaH-Map, which experienced launch delays that left the spacecraft in suboptimal condition.
—Jackie Wattles, CNN Money, 8 Nov. 2025
Natalie Eilbert, jsonline.com, 29 Oct. 2025
Paul’s youth and vigor comes with lots of risk, the work of prior revolutionaries threatened to be set back many years.
—David John Chávez, Mercury News, 28 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for setback
Noun
Some are still forging ahead with single-family home ownership despite serious financial setbacks.
—Sydney Franklin, Cincinnati Enquirer, 9 Nov. 2025
Other low-cost missions flown under the NASA’s SIMPLEx program have failed due to a range of setbacks, including Lunar Trailblazer, which ended due to communications problems, and LunaH-Map, which experienced launch delays that left the spacecraft in suboptimal condition.
—Jackie Wattles, CNN Money, 8 Nov. 2025
Verb
The funding cuts have set back efforts to train 24 school psychology graduates at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, who were set to work in high-need schools after graduation.
—Natalie Eilbert, jsonline.com, 29 Oct. 2025
Paul’s youth and vigor comes with lots of risk, the work of prior revolutionaries threatened to be set back many years.
—David John Chávez, Mercury News, 28 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for setback
Recent Examples of Synonyms for setback
Noun
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Against it stands any interest in deploying them for the use-value of reversal.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
5 Nov. 2025
-
The gains mark a reversal from the prior day’s dip as big technology stocks once again lead the broader market.—
Fortune,
Fortune,
5 Nov. 2025
Verb
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Honest conversations are also unavoidable, especially for those of you who have been holding back your true feelings.—
Valerie Mesa,
PEOPLE,
6 Nov. 2025
-
Firms that had stayed disciplined during the post-pandemic liquidity rush — holding back from inflated valuations and cheap leverage — are the ones outperforming, according to Bae.—
Anniek Bao,
CNBC,
5 Nov. 2025
Noun
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The packages resemble the same sorts of arrangements used by criminal organizations to smuggle migrants to the United States, only in reverse.—
Daniel Gonzalez,
AZCentral.com,
6 Nov. 2025
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Notably, these engravings would need to be made in reverse of how the markings would look when it was used.—
Serdar Yalçin,
The Conversation,
3 Nov. 2025
Verb
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But the program has been held up by the federal government shutdown.—
Arkansas Online,
Arkansas Online,
6 Nov. 2025
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The photos show the couple's two older kids — son Charlie, 2, and daughter Grace, 5 — holding up balloon numbers of 1 and 2, while Abbie is pictured holding a series of sonogram images and the balloon number 3.—
Kayla Grant,
PEOPLE,
6 Nov. 2025
Verb
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If your flight is canceled or significantly delayed due to the cuts, you’re legally entitled to a cash refund, not just some future credit.—
The Kim Komando Show,
FOXNews.com,
8 Nov. 2025
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According to the flight status report on the Bill and Hillary Clinton National Airport/Adams Field website Friday, the airport had delayed arrivals from Dallas-Fort Worth, Chicago and Houston, and canceled flights from Charlotte and Salt Lake City.—
JOSH FUNK,
Arkansas Online,
8 Nov. 2025
Verb
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And momentum is critical, because the future isn’t slowing down.—
Phil Gilbert,
Fortune,
12 Nov. 2025
-
While the rate of rising prices has slowed since mid-2023, prices continue to climb.—
Alexander Coolidge,
Cincinnati Enquirer,
11 Nov. 2025
Verb
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On October 25, the 58-year-old received a call from neighbors that his mother-in-law had been detained by Israeli soldiers while picking olives in the village of Nahalin in Bethlehem.—
Zeena Saifi,
CNN Money,
7 Nov. 2025
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Keller police did not immediately publicly release the arrest warrant affidavit or describe the basis for intending to detain or arrest Johnson.—
Emerson Clarridge,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
7 Nov. 2025
Verb
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As engine revs increase, centrifugal force alters the valve timing by a few degrees, either advancing or retarding it.—
Utkarsh Sood
June 17,
New Atlas,
17 June 2025
-
Genesis Yes, the thing retarding recruitment below pre-2022 levels may be, at least in part, a military-wide health-records update that, much like MyChart in the civilian health-care world, tracks the medications of all service members.—
Luther Ray Abel,
National Review,
9 Feb. 2024
Cite this Entry
“Setback.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/setback. Accessed 12 Nov. 2025.
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