setback

setback — noun

1. An event or situation that stops or slows down progress toward a goal, leaving y

1.nounB2
Definition

An event or situation that stops or slows down progress toward a goal, leaving you further behind where you were before.

Example

Mizuki's recovery from surgery suffered a setback when she developed an infection.

suffer a setback — common with health or recovery

The company faced a major setback after losing its biggest client to a competitor.

face a major setback — typical in business contexts

Common collocations
  • suffer a setback
  • face a setback
  • experience a setback
  • overcome a setback
  • major setback
  • serious setback
  • costly setback
  • temporary setback
  • a setback to
  • a setback for
Synonyms
  • reverse

    more formal, especially common in financial or military writing

  • blow

    emphasises the emotional or psychological impact rather than the delay

  • hindrance

    focuses on the obstacle itself rather than the lost progress it causes

Antonyms
  • breakthrough

    a sudden, important advance or discovery

  • boost

    something that helps or encourages progress

Grammar Patterns

suffer / face / experience + a setback

a setback + to / for + noun phrase

Usage Note

Commonly appears with the verbs 'suffer', 'face', 'experience', 'hit', and 'overcome'. A setback is usually temporary — unlike a 'failure', which can be final.

Common Mistakes

We had a setback in the project.
The project suffered a major setback when funding was cut.
Add concrete context; a bare 'setback' is too vague for natural English.
I got a setback.
I experienced a setback.
'Get a setback' sounds unnatural; use 'suffer', 'face', or 'experience' instead.

setback — verb

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

A 'setback' is a specific event that temporarily stops or slows progress — it implies you were moving forward and something pushed you back. A 'reverse' is more formal and often describes a complete change of direction in fortunes, especially in finance or military strategy ('the company suffered a reverse in Asian markets'). A 'blow' focuses on the emotional or psychological damage ('her rejection was a terrible blow'), not necessarily the lost time. A 'hindrance' is simply any obstacle that makes progress harder ('the language barrier was a hindrance'), without the sense of having lost ground already gained. For everyday situations involving a delay that you must recover from, 'setback' is the most natural choice.

setback ↗reverse ↗blow ↗hindrance ↗

Common collocations

Nouns

Adverbs

Phrases

  • suffer a setback
  • face a setback
  • overcome a setback
  • deal a setback to

Prepositions

Etymology

Old EnglishEnglish

The noun 'setback' was formed in the mid-19th century from the phrasal verb 'set back', which had been used since the 17th century with the meaning 'to delay or hinder'. The combination of 'set' (to put in place) and 'back' (backward, to a previous position) creates the image of pushing something backward from its forward progress.