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inhibit

/ɪnˈhɪbɪt//ɪnˈhɪbɪt/·verb
to hold something back; to restrain or slow a process or behavior
Fig. 1 — A wheel is spinning free and fast, as quick as it likes.
01Definition

To inhibit is to hold back — to keep something from happening fully or freely. A drug can inhibit the growth of bacteria; shyness can inhibit a student from speaking; cold can inhibit a reaction. The word does not mean to stop dead so much as to restrain, dampen, and limit, keeping a process or impulse below the level it would otherwise reach. To be 'inhibited' is to be held in by self-consciousness, unable to let go.

02In use
  • iToo much shade will inhibit the seedlings and foster mould instead of healthy growth.
  • iiThe compound works by inhibiting the very enzyme that cells need in order to proliferate.
  • iiiFear of judgment can inhibit even the most able student from asking questions.
03Collocations
  • inhibit growth
  • inhibit a reaction
  • strongly inhibit
  • inhibit the development of
  • feel inhibited

Family inhibition (noun) · inhibited (adjective) · inhibitor (noun)

04Relations

=hinder, restrain, curb, suppress, check

≠encourage, promote, foster

05Compared
PairThe difference
inhibit vs exhibitshows or displays openly → exhibit; holds back or restrains → inhibit.
inhibit vs impedesomething in the way of progress, taxing every step → impede; a process or impulse held below its natural level → inhibit.
inhibit vs facilitatemakes something harder or slower → inhibit; makes it easier → facilitate.
inhibit vs suppressan existing activity held below its natural level → inhibit; something pressed down so it never surfaces → suppress.
06TOEFL & IELTS

Frequent in TOEFL science (inhibit a reaction, inhibit growth) and psychology (inhibited behavior). Use 'inhibit X from doing Y'. It is milder than 'prevent' — an inhibited process still happens, just less. The noun inhibition has both a scientific sense and an everyday one ('to lose your inhibitions'). An inhibitor is a substance that inhibits.

07Asked
What is the difference between inhibit and prohibit?
Prohibit is to forbid — an authority bans something outright, and doing it breaks a rule ('smoking is prohibited'). Inhibit is to hold back or slow, not to forbid — shyness inhibits a student, cold inhibits a reaction. Prohibit works through rules and consequences; inhibit works by restraint and resistance. One says 'you may not'; the other quietly makes it harder.
Does inhibit mean to stop something completely?
No — it means to restrain or slow, keeping something below its full level, not to halt it. An inhibited process still happens, just less. The scene above shows the difference: a brake pad pressed to a spinning wheel does not stop it, only drags it down to a fraction of its speed, and it leaps back the moment the pad lifts.
What does 'inhibited' mean in psychology?
Held back by self-consciousness — an inhibited person finds it hard to relax, speak up, or show feeling freely. The related noun is an inhibition, a mental restraint on impulse, which is why 'to lose your inhibitions' means to shed those restraints and act without the usual self-checking. Both keep the core sense of being held in.
What is an inhibitor?
A substance that slows or blocks a process — most often in chemistry and biology, where an enzyme inhibitor slows a reaction and a corrosion inhibitor protects metal. It is the agent-noun of inhibit: whatever does the holding-back. Many drugs are inhibitors, named for what they suppress, as in 'a growth inhibitor'.
How do you use 'inhibit ... from'?
The pattern is inhibit someone or something FROM doing something: 'fear inhibited her from speaking', 'the coating inhibits the metal from rusting'. The from introduces the action being held back, and the verb after it takes the -ing form. You can also inhibit a thing directly ('antibiotics inhibit growth'), with no preposition.
What is the difference between inhibit and facilitate?
They are opposites: to inhibit is to hold something back and make it harder, to facilitate is to smooth the way and make it easier. The full contrast, with both animated scenes, is on the inhibit vs facilitate page in the 'Compared' list above.