阻力，又称后曳力或流体阻力，是物体在流体中相对运动所产生与运动方向相反的力。阻力的方向和其所在流场的流速方向相反。一般摩擦力不随速度变化而变化，但阻力会随速度而变化。

对于一个在流体中移动的物体，阻力为周围流体对物体施力，在移动方向的反方向上分量的总和。而施力和移动方向垂直的分量一般则视为升力。因此阻力和物体移动方向恰好相反，像飞机前进时会产生推力来克服阻力的影响。

在航天动力学中，大气阻力可以视为太空飞行器在发射时的低效率，其影响则是在发射时需要额外的能量，不过在返回轨道时大气阻力有助于太空飞行器减速，可减少减速额外需要的能量，不过大气阻力产生的热量甚至可以将物体熔化。

In fluid dynamics, drag (sometimes called air resistance, a type of friction, or fluid resistance, another type of friction or fluid friction) is a force acting opposite to the relative motion of any object moving with respect to a surrounding fluid. This can exist between two fluid layers (or surfaces) or a fluid and a solid surface. Unlike other resistive forces, such as dry friction, which are nearly independent of velocity, drag forces depend on velocity. Drag force is proportional to the velocity for a laminar flow and the squared velocity for a turbulent flow. Even though the ultimate cause of a drag is viscous friction, the turbulent drag is independent of viscosity.