as in restrained
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1
as in compelled
to cause (a person) to give in to pressure
constrained by conscience to tell only the truth
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in controlled
to keep from exceeding a desirable degree or level (as of expression)
constrained his anger at the needless interruption
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of constrained
Ariel Cohen, Forbes.com, 20 May 2026
It is being shaped by constrained supply, external shocks, and a new level of buyer urgency that is fundamentally altering decision-making.
—Connie Etemadi, USA Today, 13 May 2026
Reports suggest that these demonstrations highlight the sophistication of Atlas’s whole-body control system, pointing toward practical applications where robots must operate in complex, constrained environments.
—Jijo Malayil, Interesting Engineering, 6 May 2026
While memory makers are scrambling to expand production, Yu also noted that new semiconductor capacity typically takes two to three years to come online, meaning supply is likely to remain constrained in the near term.
—Lee Ying Shan, CNBC, 6 May 2026
When temperatures drop, gas demand climbs, and constrained pipelines that supply the region reach capacity, pushing up electric prices.
—Alex Kuffner, The Providence Journal, 10 Apr. 2026
In other words, giving reasonable levers for constrained districts and kids who have a clear career pathway that doesn’t require language study.
—The Editorial Board, Chicago Tribune, 27 Mar. 2026
The airline’s efforts to revive services have been held back by the closure of Qatar’s airspace, alongside the company’s heavier dependence on long-haul corridors that remain constrained.
—Glenn Taylor, Sourcing Journal, 25 Mar. 2026
But his brain-imaging studies suggest that, during a psychedelic trip, communication between different regions of the brain becomes far less constrained than during normal consciousness, allowing new ways of thinking to emerge.
—Clayton Dalton, New Yorker, 13 Mar. 2026
Vikram Mittal, Forbes.com, 23 May 2026
The kitchen-sink drama follows five working-class friends — Patrick, Shiv, Rian, Oli and Conor — who grew up together in a tower block in Birmingham and are now in their thirties, finding themselves on increasingly divergent, and for most of them increasingly constrained, paths to the future.
—Scott Roxborough, HollywoodReporter, 22 May 2026
For server workloads, where thermal design power (TDP) is tightly constrained across dense rack deployments, that transistor-level efficiency gain has practical downstream consequences.
—Aditya Jadhav, Interesting Engineering, 22 May 2026
They’re more often enabled by the company than constrained.
—Inkoo Kang, New Yorker, 17 May 2026
Similarly, Hapag-Lloyd has warned of escalating costs as the Hormuz remains largely constrained for container shipping.
—Glenn Taylor, Footwear News, 15 May 2026
Meanwhile, supply is so constrained in some areas that big new facilities may need to wait seven years for a power hookup.
—Editorial, Boston Herald, 14 May 2026
Unlike other fields that have large, high-quality datasets available to train AI models, such as image analysis and language processing, the AI in drug development is constrained by small, low-quality datasets.
—Christian MacEdonia, The Conversation, 3 Jan. 2025
Even constrained by the low initial altitude, the toss method helps keep Ukrainian jets outside the range of Russia’s most dangerous surface-to-air missile batteries.
—David Axe, Forbes, 2 Jan. 2025
Adjective
However, if hostilities persist, private investment will remain constrained because mining projects require stable operating conditions and confidence that assets won’t be threatened by the war.
—Ariel Cohen, Forbes.com, 20 May 2026
It is being shaped by constrained supply, external shocks, and a new level of buyer urgency that is fundamentally altering decision-making.
—Connie Etemadi, USA Today, 13 May 2026
Reports suggest that these demonstrations highlight the sophistication of Atlas’s whole-body control system, pointing toward practical applications where robots must operate in complex, constrained environments.
—Jijo Malayil, Interesting Engineering, 6 May 2026
While memory makers are scrambling to expand production, Yu also noted that new semiconductor capacity typically takes two to three years to come online, meaning supply is likely to remain constrained in the near term.
—Lee Ying Shan, CNBC, 6 May 2026
When temperatures drop, gas demand climbs, and constrained pipelines that supply the region reach capacity, pushing up electric prices.
—Alex Kuffner, The Providence Journal, 10 Apr. 2026
In other words, giving reasonable levers for constrained districts and kids who have a clear career pathway that doesn’t require language study.
—The Editorial Board, Chicago Tribune, 27 Mar. 2026
The airline’s efforts to revive services have been held back by the closure of Qatar’s airspace, alongside the company’s heavier dependence on long-haul corridors that remain constrained.
—Glenn Taylor, Sourcing Journal, 25 Mar. 2026
But his brain-imaging studies suggest that, during a psychedelic trip, communication between different regions of the brain becomes far less constrained than during normal consciousness, allowing new ways of thinking to emerge.
—Clayton Dalton, New Yorker, 13 Mar. 2026
Verb
Furthermore, heavy drones consume large amounts of energy and remain constrained by current battery technology.
—Vikram Mittal, Forbes.com, 23 May 2026
The kitchen-sink drama follows five working-class friends — Patrick, Shiv, Rian, Oli and Conor — who grew up together in a tower block in Birmingham and are now in their thirties, finding themselves on increasingly divergent, and for most of them increasingly constrained, paths to the future.
—Scott Roxborough, HollywoodReporter, 22 May 2026
For server workloads, where thermal design power (TDP) is tightly constrained across dense rack deployments, that transistor-level efficiency gain has practical downstream consequences.
—Aditya Jadhav, Interesting Engineering, 22 May 2026
They’re more often enabled by the company than constrained.
—Inkoo Kang, New Yorker, 17 May 2026
Similarly, Hapag-Lloyd has warned of escalating costs as the Hormuz remains largely constrained for container shipping.
—Glenn Taylor, Footwear News, 15 May 2026
Meanwhile, supply is so constrained in some areas that big new facilities may need to wait seven years for a power hookup.
—Editorial, Boston Herald, 14 May 2026
Unlike other fields that have large, high-quality datasets available to train AI models, such as image analysis and language processing, the AI in drug development is constrained by small, low-quality datasets.
—Christian MacEdonia, The Conversation, 3 Jan. 2025
Even constrained by the low initial altitude, the toss method helps keep Ukrainian jets outside the range of Russia’s most dangerous surface-to-air missile batteries.
—David Axe, Forbes, 2 Jan. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for constrained
Adjective
-
Policymakers in Tallahassee have shown that low taxes, restrained spending, and pro-growth priorities produce tangible benefits for residents.—
Nicole Huyer,
The Orlando Sentinel,
24 May 2026
-
Vocally, vulnerable verses gradually give way to ecstatic displays of emotion, and the instrumentation follows a similar pattern, with a restrained acoustic accompaniment at the start, and a multi-instrumental orchestration at the climax.—
Angelica Frey,
JSTOR Daily,
22 May 2026
Verb
-
But the connection that ultimately compelled him was less intellectual than physical.—
Naman Ramachandran,
Variety,
22 May 2026
-
After six years of my homelessness, I was compelled to acknowledge my broken self.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
21 May 2026
Verb
-
Our weather destiny will be controlled by an area of high pressure east of Maine.—
Terry Eliasen,
CBS News,
18 May 2026
-
At the time, OAPEC controlled more than 50% of the global oil market.—
Ariel Cohen,
Forbes.com,
18 May 2026
Adjective
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School is the crucible where raw vitality encounters the collective will to impose order and control but also to bring cultural richness to lives that might otherwise remain inhibited and crude.—
Tim Parks,
The New York Review of Books,
4 Apr. 2026
-
Her last and only boyfriend, Tim, would have been too inhibited.—
Cassandra Neyenesch,
New Yorker,
29 Mar. 2026
Verb
-
But, according to the Department of Homeland Security, the majority of trafficking victims—seventy-seven per cent—are forced into labor.—
Yudhijit Bhattacharjee,
New Yorker,
18 May 2026
-
The fire destroyed two structures — a cabin and an equipment shed — and forced the evacuation of 11 National Park Service employees, who were rescued by a Santa Barbara County Fire Department helicopter.—
Jack Flemming,
Los Angeles Times,
18 May 2026
Verb
-
Earlier this year the company released a REST API that lets regulated financial platforms bolt blockchain wallet functionality onto their existing products.—
Boaz Sobrado,
Forbes.com,
16 May 2026
-
How Shift Work Disrupts Your Body Clock The circadian rhythm is a roughly 24-hour internal clock regulated primarily by light.—
Allison Palmer,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
16 May 2026
Adjective
-
And, in the aftermath of a stomach-churning stick-up that twisted my guts with the queasy horror of a repressed memory, Gary is given a week to make the problem go away.—
David Ehrlich,
IndieWire,
16 May 2026
-
Amid the early-spring lightness of the filmmaking, Fukada values softly plainspoken earnestness of emotion, as his repressed, recessive characters learn to listen to their own impulses in the general stillness that surrounds them.—
Guy Lodge,
Variety,
13 May 2026
Verb
-
Jon Burge coerced the confession.—
Jake Sheridan,
Chicago Tribune,
14 May 2026
-
Without that market competition, the plaintiffs argued, gamers were coerced into paying higher prices, effectively allowing Sony to monopolize the sale of its digital PlayStation games.—
Drew Pittock,
USA Today,
4 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“Constrained.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/constrained. Accessed 24 May. 2026.
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