An enabler is a person or a thing that makes it possible for someone to do something, or for something to happen. The shape of the word is simple: enable with -er on the end — the one who enables. In ordinary talk it can be quite neutral. A tool, a law, a teacher, or a piece of software can be an enabler if it opens a door that was closed. Offices and tech people use it a lot this way, sometimes a little loosely, as a grand word for “something that helps.” Though actually, in families and in counselling, enabler has a darker, more specific use, and that is the one many English speakers think of first. An enabler is someone who, often with kind intentions, makes it easier for another person to keep a harmful habit — drinking, drugs, or other trouble. They may cover for them, give them money, or look away. The person is not usually trying to be cruel; they may think they are helping. So the same word can praise or warn, depending on what is being made possible. Listen for the rest of the sentence.