obstructionist
19
8.2
- noun
- /əbˈstrʌkʃənɪst/
- Republicans decried the Democrats' tactics as obstructionist and argued that they exacerbated the "crisis" of judicial vacancies.
- obstructionist tactics
Examples
-
And how about the leader of the obstructionists in Congress, Eric Cantor?
Blog text (11) -
The conservatives found out that there were voter consequences for their obstructionist strategies in the past Congress.
Blog text (16) -
Do they really want to continue the obstructionist policies of the Republican Congress?
Blog text (11) -
It's ridiculous how obstructionist the Republican Congress has been, at the expense of the country.
Blog text (11) -
That is a tiny little example of how obstructionist our own guild was in terms of us just trying to organize ourselves.
-
When confronted with obstructionist opposition, you are expected to fight, not compromise with them!
Blog text (8) -
The southern Democrats ended up looking and acting like obstructionists.
Academic text (1992) -
Politically, it's an achievement to get the 60 votes in the face of an obstructionist GOP.
Blog text (14) -
In his opening address to the council, John labeled such obstructionist officials 'prophets of doom.'
Academic text (2014) -
The senator was criticized for being an obstructionist during the important negotiations on healthcare reform.
Synonyms
6
6.2
A person who opposes authority or control
1
8.2
Refusing to accept proposals or changes, often for political reasons
1
9.8
A politician who speaks for a long time to delay a vote they oppose
1
7.4
A person who often waits until the last minute to do things
1
7.9
A person who delays making decisions on purpose
1
8.1
A person who stops or delays other people's actions on purpose
1
9.6
A person who refuses to answer questions and delays progress
1
5.8
Someone or something that blocks progress
1
9.9
A person who often stops other people's plans or progress
1
8.6
A person who delays a decision by using formal rules
Antonyms
How Obstructive
Surface Forms
Morphology
obstructionist = obstruction (transparent) = obstruction + ist
Formed by adding the productive agentive suffix '-ist' to the noun 'obstruction', yielding 'a person who engages in obstruction', which is directly inferable.
Etymology
Obstructionist comes from parts meaning 'against' and 'build': ob- 'against' and the root struct, as in structure and construct, which means 'build'. So an obstructionist is someone who 'builds against' a plan — they block or delay progress.