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
Spencer Elliott, Forbes.com, 28 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
Fred Albert, Forbes.com, 6 June 2026
Traditional iterations of the battery were constrained because their chemical reactions generated lithium superoxide or lithium peroxide, compounds that restricted total energy efficiency.
—Aman Tripathi, Interesting Engineering, 3 June 2026
The transformation is incremental, technical, and constrained by implementation realities.
—Ethan Stone
june 3, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 3 June 2026
But they are constrained by money—its excess and its absence.
—Katy Siegel, Artforum, 2 June 2026
Skeptics will rightly point out that medicine remains overcrowded, understaffed, and constrained by physical reality.
—Iyesatta Massaquoi Emeli, STAT, 2 June 2026
But a key difference is that these AI agents will be able to flow across an entire ecosystem of devices, rather than being constrained to a single screen or device.
—Michael Kan, PC Magazine, 2 June 2026
Payroll is constrained by a hard cap and a spending floor.
—Eddie Brown, San Diego Union-Tribune, 30 May 2026
Supply is constrained by the on-again, off-again blockades and agitation in the Strait of Hormuz, as well as by Ukrainian attacks on Russian oil capacity.
—Jeremy Lott, The Washington Examiner, 30 May 2026
Adjective
Civic infrastructure became constrained geography.
—Spencer Elliott, Forbes.com, 28 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
The site was constrained by a number of factors, including the steep slope, mature trees, and seasonal water that emerged from the limestone and trickled through the property.
—Fred Albert, Forbes.com, 6 June 2026
Traditional iterations of the battery were constrained because their chemical reactions generated lithium superoxide or lithium peroxide, compounds that restricted total energy efficiency.
—Aman Tripathi, Interesting Engineering, 3 June 2026
The transformation is incremental, technical, and constrained by implementation realities.
—Ethan Stone
june 3, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 3 June 2026
But they are constrained by money—its excess and its absence.
—Katy Siegel, Artforum, 2 June 2026
Skeptics will rightly point out that medicine remains overcrowded, understaffed, and constrained by physical reality.
—Iyesatta Massaquoi Emeli, STAT, 2 June 2026
But a key difference is that these AI agents will be able to flow across an entire ecosystem of devices, rather than being constrained to a single screen or device.
—Michael Kan, PC Magazine, 2 June 2026
Payroll is constrained by a hard cap and a spending floor.
—Eddie Brown, San Diego Union-Tribune, 30 May 2026
Supply is constrained by the on-again, off-again blockades and agitation in the Strait of Hormuz, as well as by Ukrainian attacks on Russian oil capacity.
—Jeremy Lott, The Washington Examiner, 30 May 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for constrained
Adjective
-
When a court issues a domestic violence protective order, federal law prohibits the restrained person from possessing a gun.—
Sativa Banks,
The Conversation,
4 June 2026
-
Though America’s founders, of course, did not always live up to these ideals themselves, this early reform shows us that American justice was meant to be resolute, principled, and restrained.—
Ana Zamora,
Time,
3 June 2026
Verb
-
As imperial forces traversed continents, the meanings and uses of these arrivals—whether people, plants, or ideologies— were actively negotiated and reshaped by the societies and environments compelled to contend with them.—
Sophia Rey,
JSTOR Daily,
28 May 2026
-
Large pharmaceutical companies are structurally compelled to acquire.—
Marc Cooper,
Forbes.com,
28 May 2026
Verb
-
The paint is deftly mottled but its handling lacks the prowess of her later work (see, for example, Being Beamed, 1984, a fantasia of extraterrestrial teleportation in which the watercolor is sumptuous but perfectly controlled).—
Jeremy Lybarger,
Artforum,
2 June 2026
-
One interested investor was a major Iranian telecom company owned in part, through layers of subsidiaries, by Setad-e Ejrayi, a bonyad controlled by Khamenei.—
Bozorgmehr Sharafedin,
The Atlantic,
1 June 2026
Adjective
-
Both players were so inhibited for the final game of the set that the level of play resembled something from a local park.—
Charlie Eccleshare,
New York Times,
27 May 2026
-
This really is a time to be less inhibited about going out.—
Joe Hernandez,
NPR,
25 May 2026
Verb
-
Today, however, the opposite is true, and they are deliberately displayed as current fashion trends have brought to the surface what was once forced to be hidden.—
Teresa Romero Martínez,
Glamour,
31 May 2026
-
Fueled by large stocks of critically dry vegetation and extreme winds, the fires killed 31 people, destroyed nearly 12,000 homes, and forced over 150,000 evacuations.—
Doyle Rice,
USA Today,
31 May 2026
Verb
-
Although each has invested in compliance tooling, their architectures are fundamentally optimized for scale and accessibility, not for the verifiable operational independence that regulated enterprises require.—
Steve McDowell,
Forbes.com,
31 May 2026
-
The chemical behind the explosion — ammonium nitrate — is not regulated under RMP.—
Evan Bush,
NBC news,
30 May 2026
Adjective
-
Niki’s musical genius is frequently alluded to, dreams deferred by his hearing disorder, and Woodall physically communicates that repressed frustration.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
29 May 2026
-
The deeply repressed make great ghost fodder.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
26 May 2026
Verb
-
In the state of Arkansas, lawmakers worked across the aisle on a bold bill that categorizes kids recruited into gangs and coerced into committing crimes as victims.—
Ana Zamora,
Time,
3 June 2026
-
The thoughtlessness with which this bride coerced you into subsidizing her wedding was stunning.—
Judith Martin,
Mercury News,
23 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“Constrained.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/constrained. Accessed 8 Jun. 2026.
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