Stymie

stymie







Y

  [stahy-mee]

【高爾夫】妨礙球



D



–noun 

1. Golf. (on a putting green) an instance of a ball's lying on a direct line between the cup and the ball of an opponent about to putt.

2. a situation or problem presenting such difficulties 

as 

to discourage or defeat any attempt to deal with or resolve it. 



–verb (used with object) 

3. to hinder, block, or thwart. 



Also, stymy, stimy. 



—Synonyms 

3. stump (殘幹), mystify, frustrate, confound. (使混亂,混淆)





　

This isn't entirely Murphy's fault; the script appears to suffer [from] a malady typical [of] literary adaptations [in that] there are too many characters crammed into the two hour time-[span] for anyone besides the protagonist to possibly be fleshed-out. 



This is a fatal flaw in a movie where literally everyone else is crazy and even Augusten's confidante Natalie (Evan Rachel Wood) shares strangely little screen-time after she reveals why she's messed up too. 



This problem couldn't be solved by even the most impressive portrayal by a lead actor, and Cross hardly [delivers] that. However, despite a sometimes blank and meandering performance, he does a respectable job. In fact, none of the actors do particularly bad work here--they're just stymied by the [circum]stances of the film. 





quandary (mental)

plight (peril seldom used, except laughingly) When his [suit] wasn't ready at the cleaners, he was in a terrible plight.

predicament (seldom used, crucial)

quandary stalemate

quagmire

slough 

bog

We were bogged [down] by overwork. 



cumbersome

encumber

He was hailed as a visionary, fetishized by his fans, encumbered by [expectations]. 

cusp 

foil

Loyal troops foiled his [attempt] to overthrow the government.  

The [straight] man was an able foil to the [comic].  

and proved an [apt] foil for the leering one-liners of Bob "Cherchez la Femme" Hope in Paris Holiday (1957) and Call Me Bwana (1963). 

Stagnation