Read along with the three podcasts, or open the full dictionary entry for Obstacle for the definition, Arabic meaning, synonyms and example sentences.
Narrator: Today's word is "Obstacle" — noun, pronounced /ˈɒbstəkl/, with the stress on "ob".
Narrator: An obstacle is something that blocks your way or makes progress harder.
Narrator: In plain English, a thing in the way.
Narrator: It comes from Latin obstare, to stand against.
Narrator: A common collocation is "overcome an obstacle", which describes beating a difficulty.
Narrator: It differs from "problem", because an obstacle blocks progress towards a goal.
Narrator: In a second sense, an obstacle course is a race with things to climb.
Narrator: Sport, business, psychology and robotics use the word.
Narrator: So remember: obstacles stand in your way.
Speaker A: What was the hardest part of the race?
Speaker B: The mud OBSTACLE! From Latin obstare.
Speaker A: Deep?
Speaker B: Knee-high.
Speaker A: Example sentences?
Speaker B: "Cost is the main obstacle", business. "An obstacle course", sport. "The robot avoids obstacles", engineering.
Speaker A: Common mistakes?
Speaker B: Spell it "-acle", "obstacle".
Speaker A: Close relatives?
Speaker B: Barrier is its cousin, hurdle its twin, and hindrance an alternative — yet obstacle keeps its challenging charm!
Speaker B: Let's use "obstacle" in AI prompts — useful for game design and planning.
Speaker A: How for games?
Speaker B: Levels.
Prompt: Design a platform level with five obstacles of rising difficulty.
Speaker A: And planning?
Speaker B: Risks.
Prompt: List obstacles to launching this app and how to overcome each.
Speaker A: Could it help robots?
Speaker B: Yes, for sensors.
Prompt: Explain simple obstacle avoidance for a school robot.
Speaker A: One more?
Speaker B: Coaching.
Prompt: Write a motivating message about overcoming obstacles.
Obstacle — meaning in Arabic & definition More O courses GL Dictionary