HAMSTRINGING Synonyms: 35 Similar and Opposite Words

hamstringing

verb

present participle of hamstring

as in paralyzing

to render powerless, ineffective, or unable to move the downtown development committee claims that it's hamstrung by city ordinances protecting historic buildings

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Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of hamstringing The analysts said their supply chain checks suggest an all-glass iPhone, reportedly planned for September 2027, has been canceled, hamstringing its ability to raise average selling prices in the coming years. — Jeff Marks, CNBC, 10 Aug. 2026 For example, states would often impose tariffs on each other’s goods, even if those goods were moving only from Virginia to Maryland and vice versa, thereby inhibiting the development of a national market and hamstringing internal trade. — Jordan Cash, The Conversation, 8 June 2026 Connecticut has among the highest electric rates in the nation, with some officials and legislators arguing that is hamstringing economic development efforts. — Kenneth R. Gosselin, Hartford Courant, 18 Feb. 2026 But in the business community, people worry about the proposals hamstringing Colorado’s competitiveness with other states, Colorado Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Loren Furman said Tuesday. — Nick Coltrain, Denver Post, 17 Feb. 2026 All three Eastern Conference teams are vying in what has become a wide-open race, with injuries hamstringing several teams. — Tyler Erzberger, MSNBC Newsweek, 9 Dec. 2025 The team has had trouble finding traction this season, with early injuries and the six-game suspension of wide receiver Rashee Rice hamstringing their offensive efforts. — Anna Lazarus Caplan, PEOPLE, 8 Dec. 2025 Trump’s action will feed America’s destructive use of oil, while hamstringing us in the green tech race against Chinese and other foreign carmakers. — Clara McMichael, ABC News, 3 Dec. 2025 That strategy has also allowed Nintendo to avoid the high costs and constant retraining that are hamstringing its competitors. — Nicholas Gordon, Fortune, 28 Nov. 2025

Recent Examples of Synonyms for hamstringing

Verb

National Guardsmen marched in the paralyzing heat, which, along with the shadows cast by a revolving sculpture in the courtyard, suggested the eerie calm before the gunfight in a Western.

— Julian Lucas, New Yorker, 20 Aug. 2026
Responsible deployment does not require paralyzing every use case.

— Stephen Messer, Fortune, 15 Aug. 2026

Definition of paralyzing

Verb

And the high pay they’re being offered as a lure is crippling the economy.

— The Week UK, TheWeek, 15 Aug. 2026
Trump claims the United States has opened the strait to all commercial ships other than those from Iran, crippling Iran's economy because of its reliance on oil exports.

— Joey Garrison, USA Today, 14 Aug. 2026

Definition of crippling

Verb

The same practices that have allowed the Kremlin to relentlessly tighten its political control are also undermining the state’s capacity to govern.

— Andrei Soldatov, Foreign Affairs, 31 Aug. 2026
As to alleged contempt, the siblings could argue that exploration of a sale of the team should not count as evidence of undermining the 2017 court order.

— Michael McCann, Sportico.com, 28 Aug. 2026

Definition of undermining

Verb

Throughout this year, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has been weakening the Navy’s leadership by blocking the promotion of nearly 20 admirals.

— Andrea N. Goldstein, The Atlantic, 28 Aug. 2026
Wheat futures hit their highest level in more than three years as the war in Ukraine strained supplies, further weakening the global food system.

— Jeronimo Gonzalez, semafor.com, 28 Aug. 2026

Definition of weakening

Verb

All that before disorienting and incapacitating a potential school shooter in about a minute.

— Cindy Von Quednow, CNN Money, 24 Aug. 2026
The driver hits Leatherface in the head with a wrench, incapacitating him long enough for the driver to run away and Sally to jump into the cab of a passing pickup truck.

— Jordana Rosenfeld, Encyclopedia Britannica, 10 July 2026

Definition of incapacitating

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“Hamstringing.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/hamstringing. Accessed 1 Sep. 2026.

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Synonyms of hamstringing

verb

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