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impair Definition

im·pair (im per)

transitive verb

to make worse, less, weaker, etc.; damage; reduce

Etymology: ME empeiren < OFr empeirer < VL *impejorare < L in-, intens. + LL pejorare, to make worse: see pejorative

Related Forms:

impair Synonyms

impair

v.

  1. To damage

    spoil, injure, hurt; see break 2, damage 1, destroy 1.

  2. To weaken

    diminish, undermine, reduce; see weaken 2. See syn. study at hurt.

impair Law Definition

v

Of property or a contractual right, to interfere in such a way as to diminish its value.
impair Usage Examples

Object

  • mobility: Access Mobility impaired visitors can access the mill from the back entrance through the double red gates.
  • hearing: Is there a hearing loop for the hearing impaired?
  • sight: The term partially sighted is replaced by the term sight impaired.
  • vision: I'm posting the pebbles: active learning through play for children who are blind or vision impaired.
  • child: Visually impaired children are often slow to develop speech.
  • youngster: There are seven registered blind children and around 50 visually impaired youngsters in Northamptonshire's mainstream schools and nurseries.

Subject

  • alcohol: I need to think and I am somewhat intellectually impaired by alcohol at the moment.

Preposition: through

  • drug: Whilst the dangers of drink driving are well known, people are less aware of the risks of driving when impaired through drugs.

Adjective complement

  • elderly: Conclusion Preliminary results indicate a positive effect of the intervention in reducing loneliness among visually impaired elderly.
  • due: Potential vision problems Vision can become slightly impaired due to the fluctuations in hormone levels.

Modifying Another Word

  • visually: Visually impaired users who cannot see the screen need a screen reader to read back what they have typed.
  • mentally: A dwelling only occupied by a severely mentally impaired person or persons.
  • severely: Many people whose hearing is not severely impaired are still able to hear a conventional smoke alarm.
  • cognitively: Finally, nine of the measures were only validated in studies in which less than 20 % of the respondents were cognitively impaired.
  • seriously: Their capacity to cope with the trials which await them in Malaysia will be seriously impaired.
  • neurologically: In general, payments would be limited to £ 30,000, but more may be available for neurologically impaired babies.

Used with why or when

  • when: Also some people report that the quality of their sleep is impaired when using sleeping medication.

Present participle complement

  • drive: It's not just illegal drug like cannabis and ecstasy that cause accidents - legal, medicinal drugs can also seriously impair driving ability.

Preposition: in

  • patient: Health status is impaired in elderly patients with orthostatic hypotension.

Preposition: by

  • alcohol: I need to think and I am somewhat intellectually impaired by alcohol at the moment.

Browse dictionary entries near impair

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  10. immutably
  1. impaired
  2. impaired capital
  3. impaired credit
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  5. impala
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  10. impaling