strained

strained

adjective \ˈstrānd\

Definition of STRAINED

1

: done or produced with excessive effort

2

: pushed by antagonism near to open conflict <strained relations>

Examples of STRAINED

1. He made a strained attempt at being polite.
2. <I took the complaint manager's strained smile to mean I wasn't a welcome sight.>

First Known Use of STRAINED

circa 1542

Related to STRAINED

Synonyms

affected, assumed, bogus, contrived, factitious, fake, false, feigned, forced, mechanical, mock, phony (also phoney), plastic, pretended, pseudo, put-on, sham, simulated, spurious, artificial, unnatural

Antonyms

artless, genuine, natural, spontaneous, unaffected, uncontrived, unfeigned, unforced

Related Words

automatic, canned, concocted, fabricated, hokey, labored, manufactured, pat, unauthentic, unreal, unrealistic; double-dealing, empty, facile, hollow, hypocritical, insincere, left-handed, mealy, mealymouthed, two-faced, unctuous; exaggerated, histrionic, melodramatic, overacted, overdone, theatrical (also theatric); cute, cutesy, genteel, goody-goody, mincing, overrefined, simpering; conventional, formal, impersonal, inflexible, rigid, stiff, stylized, wooden; artful, calculated, conscious, cultivated, deliberate, premeditated, studied

Near Antonyms

authentic, bona fide, real, realistic, right, true; honest, ingenuous, sincere, unpretending; easy, effortless, smooth; extemporaneous, impromptu, impulsive, instinctive, unconscious, unprompted, unrehearsed, unstudied

Rhymes with STRAINED

brained, grained, maned, pained, paned, vaned, veined