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restrain

verb

Simple meaning

To close within bounds, or otherwise limit or deprive of free movement.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

reestrayn

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US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

ɹistˈɹeɪn

This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.

IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.

Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

verb

  1. To close within bounds, or otherwise limit or deprive of free movement

  2. Restrict (someone or something) so as to make free movement difficult

  3. transitive

    To restrict or limit.

  4. transitive

    To control or keep in check.

  5. transitive

    To deprive of liberty.

  6. transitive

    To strain again.

Word at a Glance

Difficulty
C1 · Advanced
Frequency
Uncommon
Typical Use
Primarily written

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

Aura for this meaning

This meaning: To close within bounds, or otherwise limit or deprive of free movement

Used this way, restrain is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.

Emotional tone
Neutral
Formality
Neutral
Intensity
Not strongly marked
How common
Moderately common
Connotation
No strong connotation
Usage feel
Neutral and straightforward

Nearby words

  • encumber , rarer, so it draws attention

Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.

More ways to use restrain

  • “Security guards restrained the reporter from throwing another shoe.”verb

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Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

restrain tradelonger restrainhardly restrainscarcely restrain

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Similar Words, What’s the Difference?

Close in meaning, but not always interchangeable.

  • constrain

    To keep within close bounds.

  • limit

    To have a limit in a particular set.

  • encumber

    Restrict (someone or something) so as to make free movement difficult.

  • restrict

    To restrain within boundaries.

Word Family

Related forms, grouped by how they connect.

Inflected forms

Grammatical variations of the same word.

Related words

Connected by subject or meaning, not by word formation.

  • restraintnounRelated term

    The act of controlling by restraining someone or something.

  • combination in restraint of tradenounRelated term

    Any monopoly or contract or combination or conspiracy intended to restrain commerce (which are illegal according to antitrust laws of the United States).

More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin

Synonyms

Sense: to close within bounds or or otherwise limit

constrainrestrictlimitArchaicconfinekeep

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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.