WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026
ob•stru•ent
(ob′stro̅o̅ ənt),USA pronunciation adj.
n.
- Medicine(of a substance) producing an obstruction.
- Phonetics(of a speech sound) characterized by stoppage or obstruction of the flow of air from the lungs. Cf. sonorant.
n.
- Medicinea medicine that closes the natural passages of the body.
- Phoneticsan obstruent speech sound;
a stop, fricative, or affricate. Cf. sonorant (def. 2).
- Latin obstruent- (stem of obstruēns, present participle of obstruere); see obstruct, -ent
- 1660–70
'obstruent' also found in these entries (note: many are not synonyms or translations):