setback
noun/ˈsɛtbæk/
Etymology Deverbal from set back. Compare drawback.
7 senses
- 1An obstacle, delay, disadvantage, or blow (an adverse…
- 2Any adverse event, defeat, or impediment of progress.
- 3The required distance between a structure and a road.
- 4A step-like recession in a wall.
- 5An offset to the temperature setting of a thermostat to…
- 6A backset; a countercurrent; an eddy.
- 7A backset; a check; a repulse; a relapse.
1
An obstacle, delay, disadvantage, or blow (an adverse event which slows down, or prevents progress towards a desired outcome).
- After some initial setbacks, the expedition went safely on its way.
- DUKAT: I blame no one but myself. I was indiscreet. I compromised myself and have been punished accordingly. If someone under my command had behaved so outrageously, I would do the same thing to him. Besides, I assure you, this is only a temporary setback. Everything I have lost, I will regain. It's only a matter of time.1996, “Return to Grace”, in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, season 4, episode 14 (Science Fiction), →OCLC:
1 more example
- The Constitutional Court has ruled today, November 17th, that Section 1448 of the Thai Civil and Commercial, stating that “a marriage can take place only between a man and a woman”, is constitutional under the Thai constitutional law. This decision could be a major setback for many Thai LGBTQ activist groups’ continued journey of what they call basic human rights to legally allow same-sex marriages in Thailand.2021 November 17, Nop Meechukhun, “Thailand’s Constitutional Court rules Section 1448 of heterosexual marriages lawful, LGBTQ rights groups ‘disappointed’”, in The Pattaya News, Bangkok: The Pattaya News Company Limited, retrieved 17 Nov 2021:
2
Broadly Any adverse event, defeat, or impediment of progress.
3
US The required distance between a structure and a road.
4
Architecture A step-like recession in a wall.
- Setbacks were initially used for structural reasons, but now are often mandated by land use codes.
5
An offset to the temperature setting of a thermostat to cover a period when more or less heating is required than usual.
- Fuel savings from thermostat setbacks have long been accepted as fact, but little documentation existed to support it.1980, Popular Science, volume 217, number 4:
7
Archaic A backset; a check; a repulse; a relapse.
- Derived terms
- turn a setback into a comeback