Definition
To hamper is to make something harder to do — to clog, drag on, or get in the way so that progress is slowed rather than stopped. Thick fog hampers a search; heavy bags hamper a traveller; red tape hampers reform. The word suggests friction and encumbrance: the effort still moves forward, but everything about it now costs more and takes longer because something keeps catching at it from the side.
Examples
- Driving snow hampered the rescue, turning an already arduous climb into a crawl.
- Outdated software hampers the team far more than any shortage of talent does.
- A lack of nurses continues to hamper the very care that more funding was meant to facilitate.
Collocations
seriously hamper·hamper efforts·hamper progress·hampered by·hamper the investigation
Synonyms
hinder·impede·obstruct·encumber·handicap
Antonyms
facilitate·aid·assist
Word family
hampered (adjective)
In TOEFL & IELTS
Useful across IELTS problem-solution and TOEFL essays: 'efforts were hampered by a lack of funding'. It is very often passive — 'hampered by X'. Close to 'hinder' and 'impede', but with a flavour of being weighed down or clogged. Note it also means a basket (a picnic hamper), an unrelated word.