difficulty - a factor causing trouble in achieving a positive result or tending to produce a negative result; "serious difficulties were encountered in obtaining a pure reagent"

albatross, millstone - (figurative) something that hinders or handicaps; "she was an albatross around his neck"

bind - something that hinders as if with bonds

drag - something that slows or delays progress; "taxation is a drag on the economy"; "too many laws are a drag on the use of new land"

obstacle, obstruction - something immaterial that stands in the way and must be circumvented or surmounted; "lack of immagination is an obstacle to one's advancement"; "the poverty of a district is an obstacle to good education"; "the filibuster was a major obstruction to the success of their plan"

straitjacket - anything immaterial that severely hinders or confines; "they defected because Russian dance was in a straitjacket"; "the government is operating in an economic straitjacket"

clog - any object that acts as a hindrance or obstruction

impedimenta, obstruction, obstructor, obstructer, impediment - any structure that makes progress difficult

speed bump - a hindrance to speeding created by a crosswise ridge in the surface of a roadway

human action, human activity, act - something that people do or cause to happen

foiling, thwarting, frustration - an act of hindering someone's plans or efforts

antagonism - (biochemistry) interference in or inhibition of the physiological action of a chemical substance by another having a similar structure

obstruction - the act of obstructing; "obstruction of justice"

complication - the act or process of complicating

deterrence - the act or process of discouraging actions or preventing occurrences by instilling fear or doubt or anxiety

prevention, bar - the act of preventing; "there was no bar against leaving"; "money was allocated to study the cause and prevention of influenza"