obstructive

English

Etymology

From obstruct +‎ -ive.

Pronunciation

  • (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /əbˈstɹʌk.tɪv/
  • (General American) IPA(key): /əbˈstɹʌk.tɪv/, /ɑbˈstɹʌk.tɪv/
  • Audio (Southern England):(file)

Adjective

obstructive (comparative more obstructive, superlative most obstructive)

  1. Causing obstructions.
    I wanted to see his report on me, but my manager was being obstructive.
    • 1911, James George Frazer, chapter V, in Taboo and the Perils of the Soul (The Golden Bough: A Study in Magic and Religion; II), third edition, London: Macmillan and Co., Limited, page 310:
      The obstructive tendency attributed to the knot in spiritual matters appears in a Swiss superstition that if, in sewing a corpse into its shroud, you make a knot on the thread, it will hinder the soul of the deceased on its passage to eternity.

Derived terms

Translations

Noun

obstructive (plural obstructives)

  1. One who obstructs something.