as in obstacle
something that makes movement or progress difficult
the homeowner put up a fence around his garden as a deterrent for animals
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in preventive
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of deterrent
Colin Pascal, Baltimore Sun, 23 Jan. 2025
Supporters of Proposition 313, referred to voters by the Legislature, argued that discretion in sentencing leads to shorter prison terms and that life sentences would have a deterrent effect.
—Miguel Torres, The Arizona Republic, 5 Nov. 2024
The deterrent effect of these policies has proved difficult to measure and appears to have been quite limited.
—Julia Preston, Foreign Affairs, 25 Oct. 2024
The First Circuit agreed with the lower court, holding that FBAR penalties — acknowledged to be partly deterrent in nature — are not subject to the constitutional protection against excessive fines.
—Robert Goulder, Forbes, 15 Oct. 2024
See All Example Sentences for deterrent
Noun
Even if Russia ends up occupying eastern Ukraine, the cost of this limited victory will have a deterrent effect on Russian President Vladimir Putin.
—Colin Pascal, Baltimore Sun, 23 Jan. 2025
Supporters of Proposition 313, referred to voters by the Legislature, argued that discretion in sentencing leads to shorter prison terms and that life sentences would have a deterrent effect.
—Miguel Torres, The Arizona Republic, 5 Nov. 2024
The deterrent effect of these policies has proved difficult to measure and appears to have been quite limited.
—Julia Preston, Foreign Affairs, 25 Oct. 2024
The First Circuit agreed with the lower court, holding that FBAR penalties — acknowledged to be partly deterrent in nature — are not subject to the constitutional protection against excessive fines.
—Robert Goulder, Forbes, 15 Oct. 2024
See All Example Sentences for deterrent
Recent Examples of Synonyms for deterrent
Noun
-
The branches of the military, which maintain their own communication networks, have their own obstacles.—
Dexter Filkins,
New Yorker,
14 July 2025
-
For Superman, that means preventing any of the negatives that do initially arise from becoming obstacles or bandwagon narratives in the press.—
Mark Hughes,
Forbes.com,
12 July 2025
Adjective
-
Those preventive measures include trimming overgrown yards and clearing out food that rats can easily access, Campbell said, gesturing at several green apples that had fallen from a nearby tree and were starting to rot.—
William Tong,
Chicago Tribune,
12 July 2025
-
The 2012 law required insurers to provide at no cost the preventive services that were approved as highly effective.—
David G. Savage
Follow,
Los Angeles Times,
11 July 2025
Noun
-
Scaling its use requires overcoming hurdles related to the transportation of bulky materials, establishing local milling facilities and securing access to renewable energy.—
Sahit Muja,
Forbes.com,
24 July 2025
-
One reason for the unexpectedly slow pace is that the Chinese companies have not cleared a key engineering hurdle.—
Selam Gebrekidan,
New York Times,
24 July 2025
Noun
-
According to WisDOT, as part of the planning process, noise analyses identified areas where the barriers would reduce traffic noise by at least eight decibels.—
Adrienne Davis,
jsonline.com,
10 July 2025
-
Others have built barriers to protect vulnerable neighborhoods.—
New York Times,
New York Times,
10 July 2025
Adjective
-
The Spanish coach appreciates Kamara’s ability as a deep-lying midfielder to snuff out counter-attacks and provide defensive cover when his team-mates are out of position.—
Jacob Tanswell,
New York Times,
25 July 2025
-
Some of these are designed to bypass or capture 2FA codes and they’re often hosted on legitimate infrastructure to trick defensive filters.—
Zak Doffman,
Forbes.com,
25 July 2025
Noun
-
Julie was additionally convicted of obstruction of justice and wire fraud.—
Jay Stahl,
USA Today,
25 July 2025
-
Singer pleaded guilty to racketeering conspiracy, money laundering conspiracy, conspiracy to defraud the United States and obstruction of justice.—
Eric Levenson,
CNN Money,
24 July 2025
Noun
-
The event was widely viewed as an embarrassment for the administration.—
Robert Schmad,
The Washington Examiner,
18 July 2025
-
But as George points out, embarrassment is one of the biggest barriers to getting on track.—
Cheryl Robinson,
Forbes.com,
15 July 2025
Cite this Entry
“Deterrent.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/deterrent. Accessed 30 Jul. 2025.
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