Interfering

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. Engaging in activities that meddle with others' affairs can create unintended complications and hinder progress
2. Inserting oneself into others' matters frequently causes disturbances and complications that hinder natural progress and outcomes
3. Involving oneself in matters that do not concern one, often causing disruption or annoyance

Etymology: "Interfering" began as a collision. Its root, "interfere," came into English from Old French "entreferir," built from "entre-" (between) and "ferir" (to strike), which descends from the Latin "ferio," meaning to strike. The original picture was two things hitting each other, and English first used the verb in that literal sense before it took on figurative meanings. The shift to meddling happened as the word moved from physical clashes to abstract ones. Something that struck against another thing could obstruct it or get in its way, and that sense of getting in the way is where the modern idea of intruding into someone else's affairs grows from. "Interfering" in the present participle form keeps that sense of one thing running into another, now applied to people who push themselves into matters that are not theirs.

Synonyms: intrusive, meddlesome, obtrusive, intervening, invasive

Antonyms: helpful, supportive, beneficial, encouraging