Adjacent Words

setback definitions

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WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: an unfortunate happening that hinders or impedes; something that is thwarting or frustrating [syn: reverse, reversal, setback, blow, black eye]

Merriam Webster's

noun Date: 1674 1. a checking of progress 2. defeat, reverse 3. pitch IV,7 4. a placing of a face of a building on a line some distance to the rear of the building line or of the wall below; also the area produced by a setback 5. automatic scheduled adjustment to a lower temperature setting of a thermostat 6. the distance of a structure or other feature (as a well or septic system) from the property line or other feature

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Setback Set"back`, n. 1. (Arch.) Offset, n., 4. 2. A backset; a countercurrent; an eddy. [U. S.] 3. A backset; a check; a repulse; a reverse; a relapse. [Colloq. U.S.]

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

also set-back(setbacks) A setback is an event that delays your progress or reverses some of the progress that you have made. The move represents a setback for the Middle East peace process... N-COUNT: oft N for/in/to n

Moby Thesaurus

arrest, arrestation, arrestment, atavism, backset, backsliding, backward deviation, backward motion, backward step, bafflement, balk, betrayed hope, blasted expectation, blighted hope, blockage, blocking, blow, buffet, check, checkmate, clogging, closing up, closure, comedown, confusion, constriction, cramp, cruel disappointment, dash, dashed hope, deceleration, defeat, delay, descent, detainment, detention, disappointment, discomfiture, disillusionment, dissatisfaction, down, drag, ease-off, ease-up, failure, fallen countenance, falling back, fiasco, fixation, fizzle, flagging, foil, foiling, foot-dragging, forlorn hope, frustration, hampering, hindering, hindrance, holdback, holdup, hope deferred, impediment, inhibition, interference, interruption, lag, lapse, let, letdown, letup, minus acceleration, mirage, negativism, nuisance value, obstacle, obstruction, obstructionism, occlusion, opposition, reaction, rebuff, recession, recidivation, recidivism, recrudescence, recurrence, reentry, refluence, reflux, regress, regression, relapse, renewal, repression, repulse, resistance, restraint, restriction, retardation, retardment, retroaction, retrocession, retroflexion, retrogradation, retrogression, retrusion, return, reversal, reverse, reverse of fortune, reversion, rollback, rout, severe check, slack-up, slackening, slowdown, slowing, slowing down, slowup, sore disappointment, squeeze, sternway, stranglehold, stricture, stumbling block, suppression, tantalization, tease, throwback