impair
verb (formal)- impair something
to damage something or make something worse 损害；削弱 His age impaired his chances of finding a new job. 他的年龄降低了他找到新工作的机会。
Synonyms damagedamage- hurt
- harm
- impair
- damage to cause physical harm to something, making it less attractive, useful or valuable; to have a bad effect on somebody/something’s life, health, happiness or chances of success:
The fire badly damaged the town hall. 火灾使市政厅遭到严重破坏。 emotionally damaged children 感情上受伤害的孩子
- hurt (rather informal
) to have a bad effect on somebody/something’s life, health, happiness or chances of success: 指伤害、损害： Hard work never hurt anyone. 努力工作绝无害处。
- harm to have a bad effect on somebody/something’s life, health, happiness or chances of success:
Pollution can harm marine life. 污染会危及海洋生物。
damage, hurt or harm? 用 damage、hurt 还是 harm？ - impair (rather formal
) to damage somebody’s health, abilities or chances: 指损害、削弱（健康、能力或机会）： Even one drink can impair driving performance. 即使一杯酒也可能影响驾驶操作。
- to damage/hurt/harm/impair somebody’s chances
- to damage/hurt/harm somebody’s interests/reputation
- to damage/harm/impair somebody’s health
- to seriously/greatly damage/hurt/harm/impair somebody/something
- to badly/severely damage/hurt/impair somebody/something
Extra ExamplesEven one drink can impair driving performance. 即使一杯酒也可能影响驾驶操作。 There are a number of factors which can directly impair memory. 有一些因素会直接损害记忆力。 a defect that significantly impairs the safety of a car 严重削弱车辆安全性能的缺陷
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadverb- dramatically
- greatly
- markedly
- …
- severely impaired
Word OriginMiddle English enpeire, from Old French empeirier, based on late Latin pejorare (from Latin pejor ‘worse’). The current spelling is due to association with words derived from Latin beginning with im-.