Standard Lemma guide

inhibitor

noun · 4 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • US: /ɪnˈhɪbɪtɚ/
  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • CMU ARPABET: IH2 N HH IH1 B AH0 T ER0 Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

One who, or that which, inhibits.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Examples

  • I found daily meditation to be a useful inhibitor of negative thoughts.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

Any substance capable of stopping or slowing a specific chemical reaction.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Topics: chemistry, natural-sciences, physical-sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

Any substance capable of stopping or slowing a specific biological process.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Topics: biology, natural-sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

noun

Meaning 4

a substance that retards or stops an activity

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: activator

Broader terms: substance

Narrower terms: angiotensin II inhibitor, antioxidant, anticatalyst, moderator

History

Etymology

Etymology tree English inhibit Proto-Indo-European *-tōr Proto-Italic *-tōr Latin -tor Latin -ātor Old French -eorbor. Middle English -our ▲ Latin -torlbor. English -or English inhibitor From inhibit + -or.

Across languages

Translations

39 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Afrikaans: inhibeerder — substance slowing a reaction
  • Azerbaijani: ingibitor — substance slowing a reaction
  • Basque: inhibitzaile — substance slowing a reaction
  • Bulgarian: инхибитор (inhibitor) — substance slowing a reaction
  • Catalan: inhibidor — substance slowing a reaction
  • Chichewa: woletsa — substance slowing a reaction
  • Chinese Cantonese: 抑制劑 /抑制剂 (jik1 zai3 zai1) — substance slowing a reaction
  • Czech: inhibitor m zpomalovač — substance slowing a reaction
  • Danish: hæmmer — substance slowing a reaction
  • Dutch: inhibitor — substance slowing a reaction
  • Dutch: remmer — substance slowing a reaction
  • Estonian: inhibiitor — substance slowing a reaction
  • Finnish: estoaine — substance slowing a reaction
  • Finnish: inhibiittori — substance slowing a reaction
  • French: inhibiteur — substance slowing a reaction
  • Georgian: ინჰიბიტორი (inhibiṭori) — substance slowing a reaction
  • German: Inhibitor — substance slowing a reaction
  • Greek: αναστολέας (anastoléas) — substance slowing a reaction
  • Gujarati: બાધક (bādhak) — substance slowing a reaction
  • Icelandic: hemill — substance slowing a reaction
  • Indonesian: inhibitor — substance slowing a reaction
  • Indonesian: penghambat — substance slowing a reaction
  • Italian: inibitore — substance slowing a reaction
  • Japanese: 阻害剤 (sogaizai) — substance slowing a reaction
  • Kazakh: ингибиторы (iñibitory) — substance slowing a reaction
  • Northern Kurdish: rêgir — substance slowing a reaction
  • Lithuanian: inhibitorius — substance slowing a reaction
  • Malay: perencat — substance slowing a reaction
  • Mongolian: дарангуйлагч (darangujlagč) — substance slowing a reaction
  • Polish: inhibitor — substance slowing a reaction
  • Portuguese: inibidor — substance slowing a reaction
  • Romanian: inhibitor — substance slowing a reaction
  • Russian: ингиби́тор (ingibítor) — substance slowing a reaction
  • Sotho: sesitisa — substance slowing a reaction
  • Spanish: inhibidor — substance slowing a reaction
  • Swahili: kiviza — substance slowing a reaction
  • Tagalog: panansala — substance slowing a reaction
  • Telugu: నిరోధకము (nirōdhakamu) — substance slowing a reaction
  • Yiddish: אינהיביטאָר (inhibitor) — substance slowing a reaction