impair
Other forms: impaired; impairing; impairs
If you make bad decisions in the morning after drinking coffee, you might conclude that caffeine tends to impair your judgment. When you impair something, you damage it or make it work poorly.
The root of the verb impair traces back to the Latin word pejorare, meaning “to make worse,” and that’s still what happens if you impair something. Whether it’s communication, visibility, or your marriage prospects, if you impair it, you make it worse. The word can be used for situations that describe something that has deteriorated, such as “Snow continued to impair driving conditions.”
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Following the Watergate break-in scandal (1972-1974), a subpoena was issued for tapes and papers related to meetings held by Richard Nixon in the Oval Office. The president claimed "executive privilege" to withhold the evidence, but the Supreme Court rejected his immunity claiming that no person is beyond the law. This decision reinforced the impeachment process and led to Nixon's resignation. These words are from the unanimous opinion written by Warren Burger. Read the full text here.