1
as in restriction
something that limits one's freedom of action or choice
such circumscriptions on the freedom of speech are antithetical to a free and open society
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in limitation
the act or practice of keeping something (as an activity) within certain boundaries
electronic monitoring bracelets are sometimes used to impose a circumscription of movement on people awaiting trial
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Recent Examples of circumscription
Their circumscription, however, does not make Assad’s current priorities less dangerous.
—
Lina Khatib, Foreign Affairs, 17 Jan. 2020
Conditions explicitly accounted by our model include warfare, circumscription, variation in productivity between different local communities, ability to generate surpluses, ability to delegate power, and restrictions on the growth of polities due to scalar stress.
—Razib Khan, Discover Magazine, 20 Jan. 2011
That said, the impact of Mr. Cervas’s circumscription has already been profound, creating the likelihood of highly competitive general-election campaigns from Long Island to upstate New York.
—New York Times, 28 May 2022
Longtime readers of the site, though, have noted that the site no longer functions this way, in part because the Internet isn’t currently a space conducive to blinders and circumscription.
—Ross Scarano, Billboard, 6 May 2019
REM candidates made the second round in 453 circumscriptions and its MoDem allies qualified in another 62.
—Gregory Viscusi, Bloomberg.com, 18 June 2017
Lina Khatib, Foreign Affairs, 17 Jan. 2020
Conditions explicitly accounted by our model include warfare, circumscription, variation in productivity between different local communities, ability to generate surpluses, ability to delegate power, and restrictions on the growth of polities due to scalar stress.
—Razib Khan, Discover Magazine, 20 Jan. 2011
That said, the impact of Mr. Cervas’s circumscription has already been profound, creating the likelihood of highly competitive general-election campaigns from Long Island to upstate New York.
—New York Times, 28 May 2022
Longtime readers of the site, though, have noted that the site no longer functions this way, in part because the Internet isn’t currently a space conducive to blinders and circumscription.
—Ross Scarano, Billboard, 6 May 2019
REM candidates made the second round in 453 circumscriptions and its MoDem allies qualified in another 62.
—Gregory Viscusi, Bloomberg.com, 18 June 2017
Recent Examples of Synonyms for circumscription
Noun
-
In April, the Trump administration implemented new regulations that blocked sales of Nvidia’s H20 AI chip, which had been designed to comply with earlier restrictions.—
Lee Ying Shan,
CNBC,
26 June 2025
-
Perhaps wary of the privacy implications, Google rolled out its Find Hub network (previously Find My Device) with harsh restrictions on where device finding would work.—
ArsTechnica,
ArsTechnica,
25 June 2025
Noun
-
In my opinion, if the Steelers believe in Rodgers at this stage of his career, their best bet is that the veteran can use his brain and his experience to work around any physical limitations.—
Mike DeFabo,
New York Times,
19 June 2025
-
The researchers were able to dig surprisingly deep into the power and limitations of these policies, too.—
Meghan Bartels,
Scientific American,
19 June 2025
Noun
-
The team is already looking to expand the model to account for real-world constraints, such as regional resource availability, cost, and lifecycle performance.—
Ron Schmelzer,
Forbes.com,
20 June 2025
-
Democratic governors pointed to financial constraints and anticipated federal funding cuts as primary reasons for reversing course.—
Nick Mordowanec,
MSNBC Newsweek,
20 June 2025
Cite this Entry
“Circumscription.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/circumscription. Accessed 2 Jul. 2025.
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