obstructive
/əbˈstrʌktɪv
/adjective
1Causing a blockage or obstruction: all tubing should be cleared of obstructive algae and detritus...
- We are not trying to be obstructive, it is a safety issue.
- The council's ideas include widening footways, narrowing short stretches of the road, improving bus waiting areas, tackling obstructive street furniture and making the route more attractive and easier to walk with repaving.
- We are confident that when this motion comes before the Council for debate, that it will be carried and these obstructive bollards will be removed once and for all.
1.1Relating to obstruction of a passage in the body, especially the gut or the bronchi: the child developed severe obstructive symptoms...
- They treated 39 patients with obstructive symptoms using medical therapy.
- Excess body weight contributes to obstructive sleep apnea, as does extra tissue at the back of your mouth and in your throat.
- He had recently developed rectal pain, significant lower gastrointestinal obstructive symptoms, and weight loss.
2Causing or tending to cause deliberate difficulties and delays: he denied the council had been obstructive...
- That typifies his attitude throughout the case that has been uncooperative, obstructive and difficult.
- That typifies his attitude throughout the case uncooperative, obstructive and difficult.
- The police constable told the court that when Smith was taken to Scarborough police station he was ‘difficult, obstructive and offensive towards the custody sergeant’.
Synonyms
making difficulties, unhelpful, uncooperative, awkward, difficult, unaccommodating, disobliging, unconstructive, perverse, contrary;
Scottish thrawn
British informal bloody-minded, bolshie
North American informal balky
archaic froward, contrarious
Derivatives
obstructively
/ adverb ...- Motorists who park obstructively in Redhill and Reigate are to be warned of prosecution by a joint council and emergency services leaflet.
- Mr Frank alleged Mr Black had behaved aggressively and obstructively at meetings.
- The problem is, both the writer and reader of reviews such as this prefer things simple, and performance benchmarks are extremely simple, perhaps obstructively so.
obstructiveness
/ noun ...- To contact the Metropolitan Police is a frustrating experience of long delays, indifference, obstructiveness and even downright hostility.
- But the obstructiveness of Opposition parties is no reason to prevent the bill from being taken through its remaining stages.
- The Senate also demonstrated its usual level of obstructiveness by blocking zero (sometimes also described as nought, nil or none) pieces of legislation.