1
as in unsuccessful
not producing the desired result
several hamstrung attempts to reorganize the local parent-teacher association were made
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in paralyzed
unable to act or achieve one's purpose
hamstrung by recent congressional limitations on executive power, the president can do little in this situation
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in crippled
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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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of hamstrung
Jackson Roberts, MSNBC Newsweek, 24 Nov. 2025
Conservatives, who have long sought to reduce the size of the federal workforce, say Trump should not be hamstrung.
—Carlos Waters, CNBC, 10 Oct. 2025
The exact impacts are unclear, but airports, Amtrak trains and wildfire response would probably not be hamstrung, officials told Bay Area News Group on Monday.
—Grant Stringer, Mercury News, 30 Sep. 2025
Yet, despite decades of advancement in digital infrastructure, network rollouts remain hamstrung by manual processes, fragmented systems and costly delays.
—Abhishek Singh, Forbes.com, 10 Sep. 2025
Republicans like Councilor Michael-Paul Hart, who sponsored the proposal to reform the General Orders Board, said the current setup gives civilians too much power and has made officers feel hamstrung by some of the orders.
—Jordan Smith, IndyStar, 28 Aug. 2025
Newcastle, like Villa, are hamstrung.
—Tim Spiers, New York Times, 20 Aug. 2025
In a Friday court filing, the Justice Department said more than 460 Education Department employees had been laid off, cutting roughly a fifth of the agency's already-hamstrung workforce.
—Zachary Schermele, USA Today, 28 Mar. 2025
Nate Jones, Vulture, 19 Dec. 2025
Grossi wants the job, even though the international body has been hamstrung by infighting and failed to use political leverage to prevent or end recent conflicts.
—Robin Wright, New Yorker, 12 Dec. 2025
What Trump is proposing Trump hasn’t unveiled his policy yet, hamstrung by congressional Republicans who have balked at his subsidy extension plan.
—David Goldman, CNN Money, 4 Dec. 2025
These fatality reviews are further hamstrung by the boundary between domestic violence and child abuse.
—Kaitlyn M. Sims, The Conversation, 2 Dec. 2025
Injuries, however, have hamstrung both teams.
—Joe Kozlowski, MSNBC Newsweek, 26 Nov. 2025
The companies that attract Unified Commerce’s attention still have a strong identity and a loyal customer base but have been hamstrung by the changing economic environment and need operational support.
—Jean E. Palmieri, Footwear News, 5 Nov. 2025
Schwarzenegger, 78, also lamented the deepening polarization that has hamstrung politics since his time in office.
—Claire Wang, Oc Register, 29 Oct. 2025
The Fed has been hamstrung in assessing economic progress during the recent shutdown as all data collection and releases have been suspended.
—Christina Cheddar Berk, CNBC, 29 Oct. 2025
Adjective
Yet, spending significantly more long-term money on one closer compared to the alternatives on the market could wind up leaving the Mets financially hamstrung.
—Verb
In a way, Sentimental Value is both boosted and hamstrung by the comparison to Worst Person.
—Recent Examples of Synonyms for hamstrung
Adjective
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But her appeal was unsuccessful.—
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Industry lobbying unsuccessful to date Some advocates for the restaurant industry have been lobbying to change the way service fees are treated.—
Adjective
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Clancy allegedly strangled her three children and then tried to kill herself by jumping out a window in 2023, leaving her paralyzed from the sternum down.—
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Smith, an Arizona husband and father, is completely paralyzed and relies on a ventilator to breathe.—
Verb
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In Wrightwood, the recent torrential rainfall delivered devastating mudslides that have crippled the mountain town.—
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The pioneering college opened in 1885 and weathered difficult times early on, as the infamous winter freeze of 1894 destroyed orange groves throughout the state and crippled a key revenue source for Rollins, Lane wrote in his history of the school.—
Adjective
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Willingly taking back an inefficient contract from a contender, even if that contract has term involved, is just a more extreme application of this basic logic.—
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In processes like this, any loss of carbon as carbon dioxide is a key sign that the underlying process is inefficient.—
Adjective
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Americans have gotten used to the idea that our government is helpless to get anything done.—
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Neighbors are feeling helpless, especially as tax season gets underway.—
Verb
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Union leaders are harassed and arrested, workplaces remain perilous, and bargaining is undermined by intimidation and retaliation.—
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Among them were her dissatisfaction with celebrity culture, her sense that her dignity was being undermined by the media — and, crucially, a gesture toward Cydney Bernard, whom Foster thanked by name and identified as her ex-partner and co-parent.—
Adjective
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Even Bill Gates, a onetime stalwart champion of climate action, said this week that near-term emissions targets are a distraction at best and could even be counterproductive for human welfare.—
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What resulted is one of the most comic, counterproductive, and clumsy episodes in the long history of British efforts to deal with Ireland.—
Adjective
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New orders contracted for a fourth month and export bookings remained weak, based on the ISM data.—
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Getting too little of either can lead to weak, brittle bones, and too much can also cause problems (like kidney stones or nausea).—
Cite this Entry
“Hamstrung.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/hamstrung. Accessed 12 Jan. 2026.
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