setback
/ˈsɛtbæk/
setback noun: an obstacle, delay, disadvantage, or blow (an adverse event which slows down, or prevents progress towards a desired outcome).
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Noun
setback (plural setbacks)
- An obstacle, delay, disadvantage, or blow (an adverse event which slows down, or prevents progress towards a desired outcome).
- After some initial setbacks, the expedition went safely on its way.
- DUKAT: I blame no one but myself. I was indiscreet. I compromised myself and have been punished accordingly. If someone under my command had behaved so outrageously, I would do the same thing to him. Besides, I assure you, this is only a temporary setback. Everything I have lost, I will regain....1996, “Return to Grace”, in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, season 4, episode 14 (Science Fiction), →OCLC
- Any adverse event, defeat, or impediment of progress.
- The required distance between a structure and a road.
- A step-like recession in a wall.
- Setbacks were initially used for structural reasons, but now are often mandated by land use codes.
- Synonyms:
- stepback
- An offset to the temperature setting of a thermostat to cover a period when more or less heating is required than usual.
- Fuel savings from thermostat setbacks have long been accepted as fact, but little documentation existed to support it.1980, Popular Science, volume 217, number 4
- A backset; a countercurrent; an eddy.
- A backset; a check; a repulse; a relapse.
setback meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Urdu and Bengali
setback in Hindi
- setback
- रुकावट rukāvaṭ
setback in Tamil
- பின்னடைவு
setback in Urdu
- setback
- رکاوٹ rukāvaṭ
setback in Bengali
- setback, blow
- ধাক্কা dhakka
More languagesFewer languages
- setback in Telugu
- ఎదురుదెబ్బ, ఎదురుదెబ్బ తగిలింది
- setback in Malayalam
- പ്രലോപനം pralōpanaṁ
- setback in Kannada
- ಹಿನ್ನಡೆ hinnaḍe
- setback in Arabic
- نَكْسَة naksa
Examples of setback in a sentence
- Besides, I assure you, this is only a temporary setback.1996, “Return to Grace”, in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, season 4, episode 14 (Science Fiction), →OCLC:
- This decision could be a major setback for many Thai LGBTQ activist groups’ continued journey of what they call basic human rights to legally allow same-sex marriages in Thailand.2021 November 17, Nop Meechukhun, “Thailand’s Constitutional Court rules Section 1448 of heterosexual marriages lawful, LGBTQ rights groups...
Synonyms of setback
Forms of setback
| plural | setbacks |
|---|
Origin of setback
Deverbal from set back. Compare drawback.
Words formed from setback
Phrases with setback
Questions about setback
- What does setback mean?
- Setback means an obstacle, delay, disadvantage, or blow (an adverse event which slows down, or prevents progress towards a desired outcome).
- What is setback in Hindi?
- Setback in Hindi is रुकावट (rukāvaṭ). See Setback meaning in Hindi.
- How do you use setback in a sentence?
- Besides, I assure you, this is only a temporary setback.
- What part of speech is setback?
- Setback is a noun.
- How do you pronounce setback?
- Setback is pronounced /ˈsɛtbæk/.
- What is the plural of setback?
- The plural of setback is setbacks.
Words near setback in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: setback (page history and authors); रुकावट (Hindi) (page history and authors); setback (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); رکاوٹ (Urdu) (page history and authors); ধাক্কা (Bengali) (page history and authors); setback (Telugu, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); പ്രലോപനം (Malayalam) (page history and authors); ಹಿನ್ನಡೆ (Kannada) (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: en-us-setback.ogg.
Cite this entry: “setback.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/setback. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.