Impair
/ɪmˈpɛər/
verbB2
Definition
Impair means to cause damage or harm that reduces the quality, strength, or ability of something or someone. It often refers to making something less effective or less good than before. For example, it can refer to health, skills, or objects.
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See It in Action
To weaken or damage something's function or quality
- •Smoking can impair your lung function.
- •Loud noise may impair your hearing.
- •The injury impaired his ability to walk.
To reduce someone's mental or physical ability
- •Alcohol can impair judgment.
- •The illness impaired her memory.
- •Fatigue impaired his concentration.
Make It Stick
- ✓Think of "impair" like "break," but not completely broken—just a little worse or weaker.
- ✓Picture a glass with a small crack: it can still hold water, but it is damaged and less strong.
- ✓It's the feeling when your phone screen has a scratch that makes it harder to see clearly.
- ✓Sounds like "im-PAIR" → imagine a pair of shoes where one shoe is damaged, so the pair doesn't work well.
- ✓Think of a car that runs slower because its engine is impaired (damaged).
- ✓NOT like "destroy" (completely broken), "impair" means partial damage or weakening.
- ✓NOT like "ignore" (no action), "impair" means actively causing harm or damage.
- ✓NOT like "improve" (make better), "impair" is the opposite—it makes things worse.
Try Other Words
- •Weaken: to make less strong (Use when focusing on strength or power being less)
- •Harm: to cause injury or damage (Use for general negative effects)
- •Reduce: to make smaller or less (Use when talking about lowering amount or quality)
- •Damage: to hurt or break (Use when physical or clear harm happens)
Unboxing
- •Prefix "im-" means "in" or "into," often used to form verbs meaning "to cause"
- •Root "pair" comes from Latin "parare," meaning to prepare or arrange (here, it relates to condition or state)
- •The word entered English in the late 16th century, meaning to make worse or damage
- •Today, "impair" is used mostly to talk about weakening health, abilities, or objects without full destruction
Reflect & Connect
•Can you think of situations where something is impaired but still works? How does that affect daily life?
•How do people protect themselves from things that might impair their health or skills?
Fill in the blanks
1.Drinking too much alcohol can impair your ___ and ___, making it unsafe to drive.
2.Loud noises may impair your ___, causing temporary or permanent problems.
3.An injury can impair a person's ability to ___ or ___ normally.
4.Unlike breaking something completely, to impair means to ___ its function or quality.
5.Fatigue often impairs concentration, so people ___ better rest to improve focus.
6.When a machine is impaired, it usually works ___ than before but not ___.
7.Hearing impairment means your ears do not ___ sounds as well as before.