Hold back
Hold back verb - To create difficulty for the work or activity of.
Usage example: the only thing holding Joe back from joining the swim team is lack of transportation
Stymie
Stymie verb - To create difficulty for the work or activity of.
Usage example: the raging blizzard stymied the rescuers' attempts to find the stranded mountain climbers
Hold back and stymie are semantically related in impede topic. Sometimes you can use "Hold back" instead a verb "Stymie", if it concerns topics such as hinder.
Nearby Words: stymied, stymieing
Mutual synonyms
Cite this Source
Stymie and Hold back. (2016). Retrieved 2026, July 27, from https://thesaurus.plus/related/hold_back/stymie
Hold back & Stymie. N.p., 2016. Web. 27 Jul. 2026. <https://thesaurus.plus/related/hold_back/stymie>.
Stymie or Hold back. 2016. Accessed July 27, 2026. https://thesaurus.plus/related/hold_back/stymie.
Google Ngram Viewer shows how "hold back" and "stymie" have occurred on timeline