SETBACK

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does setback mean? 

• SETBACK (noun)
  The noun SETBACK has 1 sense:

1. an unfortunate happening that hinders or impedes; something that is thwarting or frustrating

  Familiarity information: SETBACK used as a noun is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• SETBACK (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

An unfortunate happening that hinders or impedes; something that is thwarting or frustrating

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural events

Synonyms:

black eye; blow; reversal; reverse; setback

Hypernyms ("setback" is a kind of...):

happening; natural event; occurrence; occurrent (an event that happens)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "setback"):

whammy (a serious or devastating setback)

Derivation:

set back (slow down the progress of; hinder)

 Context examples 

It was a blow, Baron—the worst setback in my whole campaign.

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

But I have had a bad setback.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

“What strikes us the most is the considerable increase in deforestation during the period. It's a huge setback, with rates comparable to those of 2005,” she said.

(Brazilian Atlantic Forest deforestation up nearly 60% in a year, Agência Brasil)

Uranus in Taurus at three degrees is precisely square the new moon, bringing obstacles and setbacks.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)

A setback?

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

You will be relieved to hear that there will be no war, that the Right Honourable Trelawney Hope will suffer no setback in his brilliant career, that the indiscreet Sovereign will receive no punishment for his indiscretion, that the Prime Minister will have no European complication to deal with, and that with a little tact and management upon our part nobody will be a penny the worse for what might have been a very ugly incident.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)