Definition of strained
- strained relations
He made a strained attempt at being polite.
I took the complaint manager's strained smile to mean I wasn't a welcome sight.
These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'strained.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
circa 1542
affected, artificial, assumed, bogus, contrived, factitious, fake, false, feigned, forced, mechanical, mock, phony (also phoney), plastic, pretended, pseudo, put-on, sham, simulated, unnatural;
artless, genuine, natural, spontaneous, unaffected, uncontrived, unfeigned, unforced;
authentic, bona fide, real, realistic, right, true;
honest, ingenuous, sincere, unpretending;
easy, effortless, smooth;
extemporaneous, impromptu, impulsive, instinctive, unconscious, unprompted, unrehearsed, unstudied;
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;
: feeling or showing the effect of too much work, use, effort, etc.
: not natural and sincere
: not friendly and relaxed
See words that rhyme with strained Thesaurus: All synonyms and antonyms for strained Spanish Central: Translation of strained Nglish: Translation of strained for Spanish speakers Britannica English: Translation of strained for Arabic speakers
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