A stumbling block
Suggest a CorrectionMeaning
An obstacle that prevents progress or makes success difficult. Neutral and common in formal as well as everyday writing. Regional use: Biblical English; now widespread.
Origin
The metaphor is biblical: a stone in a path can make a walker stumble, so scripture uses stumbling language for moral or spiritual impediments. The Wycliffe Bible's Romans 14:13 speaks of putting a cause of stumbling or offence before another person. Later translators and ordinary usage settled on the compound stumbling block. The medieval English witness contains the metaphor and function, although not every manuscript has the exact modern compound.
Research Sources
Variants
- A cause of stumbling
Usage Examples
- The licence fee became a stumbling block in the negotiations.
- Irregular transport remains a stumbling block for evening students.
- Pride was the chief stumbling block between the two departments.