Word.ws English Dictionary

How to use impair in a sentence

19 example sentences · verb, adjective, noun

Impair means to weaken; to affect negatively; to have a diminishing effect on. Example: “Flexibility is good, but a tolerance for mediocrity carried far enough impairs operational capacity.”

Examples of impair by meaning

verbTo 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

More sentences with impair

  • Flexibility is good, but a tolerance for mediocrity carried far enough impairs operational capacity.From the entry mediocrity
  • This toxin impairs ventilation by causing inflammation in the bronchioles.From the entry ventilation
  • The underexploitation of talent impairs economic growth.From the entry underexploitation
  • The disease can impair olfactory function.From the entry olfactory
  • Millerandage is most commonly caused by cold or bad weather during the flowering stage of the vines. It impairs the quality of wine made from the grapes.From the entry millerandage
  • Increasingly, Covid survivors say brain fog is impairing their ability to work and function normally.2020 October 11, Pam Belluck, “‘I Feel Like I Have Dementia’: Brain Fog Plagues Covid Survivors”, in New York Times. From the entry brain fog
  • A building on an outparcel may impair visibility of the tenant's premises.2011, Mark A. Senn, Commercial Real Estate Leases: Preparation, Negotiation, and Forms, 5th edition, New York City: Wolters Kluwer, →ISBN…. From the entry outparcel
  • Tom said that he always drove home from clubs, and that the ecky wouldn't impair his driving.1997, Barry Graham, Before: A Novel, page 45. From the entry ecky
  • "Mild hypnosedation and hypokinesia may be either beneficial, as they facilitate nursing, or deleterious, as they impair intellectual and psychomotor skills."1974, Stuart Fielding, Harbans Lal, Michael J. Antonaccio, Neuroleptics: Industrial pharmacology. From the entry hypnosedation
  • Woman may not depart from it to any considerable extent without impairing her position and nullifying her functions.1904 September, H. B. Marriott-Watson [i.e., H[enry] B[rereton] Marriott Watson], “The American Woman: An Analysis”, in James Knowles…. From the entry muliebrity
  • Before communication and cognition impair decision-making, and before the medical needs for interventions become emergent, advance decisions about nutrition and ventilation must be discussed.2019, Walter R. Frontera, Joel A. DeLisa, Bruce M. Gans, Lawrence R. Robinson, DeLisa's Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation: Principles…. From the entry emergent
  • For example, attachment of oligohistidine tags to the periplasmic termini of membrane proteins often interferes with folding and drastically impairs expression in Escherichia coli.2015 November 26, “A Versatile Strategy for Production of Membrane Proteins with Diverse Topologies: Application to Investigation of…. From the entry oligohistidine
  • It impairs the taste and texture.1998 September 17, Garlic Goddess, “Garlic - storing in fridge?”, in rec.food.cooking (Usenet), archived from the original on 06 Dec 2025. From the entry fridgy
  • Scopophilic–exhibitionistic distortions, scopophobic elements, and inhibitions in the countertransference can impair the analyst’s skill and contribute to those interminable analyses that “move” without movement.1974, David W. Allen, “Introduction”, in The Fear of Looking or Scopophilic–Exhibitionistic Conflicts, Charlottesville, Va.: University…. From the entry scopophobic
  • This sclerosis of the packing substance of the right hemisphere impairing its trophesial influence, resulted in arrestment of development of the opposite side of the body.1969, Journal of Anatomy - Volume 7, page 265. From the entry trophesial
  • Inferior fabrics can cause miswinds and jam ups which can impair the proper functioning of the machine through breakage and misadjustment, bringing on costly repairs and unnecessary maintenance.1964, Journal of Data Management, page 45. From the entry miswind
  • Russia thinks of an atomic authority as a Trojan horse to get behind the iron curtain and impair her defense, and there is some reason historically for this view.1946 October, John Foster Dulles, quotee, American Bar Association Journal, volume 32, number 10, page 681. From the entry Trojan horse
  • With a deep sense of personal integrity and a desire to avoid everything which might impair his absolute independence, Polk declined to accept presents of more than nominal value.1922, Eugene Irving McCormac, “Administration and Patronage”, in James K. Polk: A Political Biography, Berkeley, Cali.: University of…. From the entry propriety

Meaning of impair

  1. verb To weaken; to affect negatively; to have a diminishing effect on.
  2. verb To grow worse; to deteriorate.
  3. adjective Not fit or appropriate; unsuitable.

Full definition of impair

Questions about impair in a sentence

How do you use impair in a sentence?
Impair is used as a verb, adjective and noun. For example: “Flexibility is good, but a tolerance for mediocrity carried far enough impairs operational capacity.”
What is a short sentence with impair?
“It impairs the taste and texture.”
What does impair mean?
Impair means to weaken; to affect negatively; to have a diminishing effect on.

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: impair (page history and authors) and the entries each sentence comes from. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws chose the sentences, left out offensive ones and quotations older than 1900, and marked the word in each. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this page: “How to use impair in a sentence.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sentences/impair. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.