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View synonyms for stumbling block

stumbling block

noun

  1. an obstacle or hindrance to progress, belief, or understanding.

    Synonyms: bar, block, impediment, barrier, hurdle



stumbling block

noun

  1. any impediment or obstacle
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012


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Word History and Origins

Origin of stumbling block1

First recorded in 1580–90
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Idioms and Phrases

A hindrance or obstacle, as in His lack of a degree is a real stumbling block to his advancement . This term originally meant “a tree stump over which one trips.” Its figurative use dates from the early 1500s.
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Example Sentences

Daniel Stone on the last major stumbling block—how to raise revenue without using the word “tax.”

Palestinian officials said the address marked the Israeli leader as the real stumbling block to an agreement.

One stumbling block for Rossi will be getting the entire state party behind him.

How I do wish sometimes to give Ritchie a jog, when there is some stumbling-block that he sticks fast at.

This design reveals a stumbling-block that superficial people fall over.

Fallacies of this description are the great stumbling-block to correct thinking in political economy.

Its tenant was apparently somewhat of a scandal and a stumbling-block to the reforming party.

Indeed, it is America which sets the worst stumbling-block in the voter's path.

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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.

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