impair
/ɪmˈpɛə/US/ɪmˈpɛɹ/
impair verb: to weaken; to affect negatively; to have a diminishing effect on.
Verb
impair (third-person singular simple present impairs, present participle impairing, simple past and past participle impaired)
- To weaken; to affect negatively; to have a diminishing effect on.
- In 2016, it was announced that Jones had been diagnosed with primary progressive aphasia, a form of dementia that impairs the ability to communicate.2020 January 22, Stuart Jeffries, “Terry Jones obituary”, in The Guardian
- To grow worse; to deteriorate.
- Flesh may empaire,[…]but reason can repaire.1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book I, Canto VII”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC
Adjective
impair (comparative more impair, superlative most impair)
- Not fit or appropriate; unsuitable.
- giues he not till iudgement guide his bounty, / Nor dignifies an impaire thought with breath:c. 1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Troylus and Cressida”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and...
Noun
impair (plural impair or impairs)
- The act of impairing or deteriorating.
- The fact of being impaired or having grown worse.
- An impairment or deterioration.
- Suppoſe a mans credit ſhould ſuffer an impair with thoſe whoſe cenſure is not to be valued; yet think, which is worſe, ſhame or ſin? Wilt thou ſin againſt God to ſave thy credit?1671, Thomas Watson, The Beatitudes, pages 146–147
impair meaning in Tamil, Urdu, Bengali and Malayalam
impair in Tamil
- அழி, பழுதாகச் செய்
impair in Urdu
- کم ہونا, کمزور بننا, زخمی ہونا, کم کرنا, کمزور کرنا, زخمی کرنا
impair in Bengali
- ক্ষতিগ্রস্ত করা, দুর্বল করা, বিগড়ানো
impair in Malayalam
- ഇടിവുവരുത്തുക, ചീത്തയാക്കുക, കെടുത്തുക, ക്ഷയിപ്പിക്കുക
More languagesFewer languages
- impair in Kannada
- ಕೆಡಿಸು, ಹಾಳುಮಾಡು, ಕುಂದಿಸು, ಉಡುಗಿಸು
- impair in Arabic
- أَضْعَفَ ʔaḍʕafa, دَهْوَرَ dahwara
Examples of impair in a sentence
- Flexibility is good, but a tolerance for mediocrity carried far enough impairs operational capacity.
- This toxin impairs ventilation by causing inflammation in the bronchioles.
- The underexploitation of talent impairs economic growth.
Synonyms of impair
Forms of impair
| Verb | |
|---|---|
| third-person singular present | impairs |
| present participle | impairing |
| past participle | impaired |
| past | impaired |
| alternative form (obsolete, rare) | empair |
| Adjective | |
| comparative | more impair |
| superlative | most impair |
| Noun | |
| plural | impair |
| plural | impairs |
Origin of impair
From Middle English impairen, empeiren, from Old French empeirier, from Early Medieval Latin impeiōrāre, from in- + Late Latin peiōrāre (“worsen”), from peiōrem (“worse”), comparative of malus (“bad”).
Words formed from impair
Words that rhyme with impair
48 more rhymesFewer rhymes
- declare
- hair
- Sinclair
- where
- ayr
- care
- layer
- mayor
- parterre
- fare
- glare
- lair
- pear
- prayer
- snare
- compare
- dare
- rare
- share
- swear
- ware
- wear and tear
- Ayer
- blare
- flair
- forbear
- Kerr
- laissez faire
- mousquetaire
- pare
- prepare
- repair
- stare
- unfair
- yare
- -ware
- abear
- aflare
- despair
- glair
- heir
- Pierre
- reair
- scare
- tare
- trillionaire
- Voltaire
- aware
Questions about impair
- What does impair mean?
- Impair means to weaken; to affect negatively; to have a diminishing effect on.
- What is impair in Tamil?
- Impair in Tamil is அழி, பழுதாகச் செய். See Impair meaning in Tamil.
- What part of speech is impair?
- Impair can be a verb, an adjective or a noun.
- How do you pronounce impair?
- Impair is pronounced /ɪmˈpɛə/ (UK).
- What is the past tense of impair?
- The past tense of impair is impaired.
Words near impair in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: impair (page history and authors); impair (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); impair (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors); Impair (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); impair (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors); impair (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-impair.wav.
Cite this entry: “impair.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/impair. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.