held back

verb

past tense of hold back
1
as in hampered
to create difficulty for the work or activity of the only thing holding them back from joining the swim team is lack of transportation

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in stifled
to refrain from openly showing or uttering held back her tears until she was alone

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of held back Baker opened the door, in leggings and a tank top, her hair held back with sunglasses. — CNN Money, 1 Oct. 2026 Lapcevich tried to confront Heim after the race but was held back by Bryant, who instead brought six team members to do so violently. — Steve Henson, Los Angeles Times, 30 Sep. 2026 The Meta Ray-Ban Display's color waveguide still feels like an important evolution in the category, even if it's held back by limited features and questionable design decisions. — Will Greenwald, PC Magazine, 28 Sep. 2026 He’s held back on approving a $14 billion arms package to Taiwan. — Nicholas Gordon, Fortune, 28 Sep. 2026 Even from her wrought-iron balcony, analysts say, Fernández has held back potential successors to pursue her own comeback. — ABC News, 23 Sep. 2026 If a third of that pool has smoothed over an age, downplayed a caregiving responsibility or held back an honest opinion online, that manager is working from an edited pool without knowing it. — Houman Akhavan, Forbes.com, 16 Sep. 2026 Paramount voluntarily agreed not to close the deal until after a trial is held back in July. — Gene Maddaus, Variety, 15 Sep. 2026 Yet among those students, 51% had still held back at least once. — Liam Julian, Baltimore Sun, 14 Sep. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for held back
  1. hampered
  2. stifled
  3. hindered
  4. suppressed
  5. impeded
  6. swallowed
  7. embarrassed
  8. obstructed
Verb
  • Four in 10 American kids will become adults hampered by obesity, chronic illness, anxiety, depression, or other conditions that can limit their opportunities and shorten their lives.
    — Stanley McChrystal, STAT, 29 Sep. 2026
  • Aliyah Boston finished with 18 points and eight rebounds for the Fever, despite being hampered by a lower leg injury.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 27 Sep. 2026
Definition of hampered
Verb
  • The Falcons dominated the second half with their offense, and the defense stifled the Packers and quarterback Jordan Love.
    — Rod Beard, AJC.com, 25 Sep. 2026
  • But the cumbersome requirements for taking the drugs, as well as a series of safety concerns, stifled their use.
    — Allison DeAngelis, STAT, 23 Sep. 2026
Definition of stifled
Verb
  • Last season as a rookie, Ferguson was hindered early in the schedule because of a hamstring injury suffered during training camp.
    — Gary Klein, Los Angeles Times, 26 Sep. 2026
  • Arrivals at the show were hindered by a combination of fans waiting to catch a glimpse of front-row guests like Monica Bellucci and Italian singer Jovanotti, and an anti-fur protest.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 24 Sep. 2026
Definition of hindered
Verb
  • Making the material thicker suppressed the effect, limiting both the physical design of the memory and potentially its ability to retain information.
    — Rupendra Brahambhatt, Interesting Engineering, 26 Sep. 2026
  • When the skin’s community of protective bacteria was suppressed with antibiotics, the frogs became more likely to develop signs of disease.
    — Laura Baisas, Popular Science, 24 Sep. 2026
Definition of suppressed
Verb
  • The ongoing conflict that has driven people from their homes in Iran as well as an internet shutdown and a lack of full cooperation from the two governments partially impeded the team's efforts to get information.
    — Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 18 Sep. 2026
  • The ongoing conflict that has driven people from their homes in Iran as well as an internet shutdown and a lack of full cooperation from the two governments partially impeded the team’s efforts to get information.
    — Jamey Keaten, Los Angeles Times, 17 Sep. 2026
Definition of impeded
Verb
  • The international cooperation that Kirchwey and Bernal called for was swallowed within months by the politics of the Cold War, which would end up bringing the world to the brink of annihilation more than once.
    — Richard Kreitner, Washington Post, 29 Sep. 2026
  • In what probably should’ve been a tell, when AT&T acquired it in 2018, the telecom swallowed Time Warner whole and there was no trace of the Warner name.
    — Erik Hayden, HollywoodReporter, 28 Sep. 2026
Definition of swallowed
Verb
  • All must be corrected or the Dolphins could be embarrassed by the Chiefs.
    — Chris Perkins, Sun Sentinel, 23 Sep. 2026
  • Yeah, the Cardinals — led by rookie head coach Mike LaFleur, the Rams’ former offensive coordinator — embarrassed the Bolts at home.
    — Mirjam Swanson, Los Angeles Times, 14 Sep. 2026
Definition of embarrassed
Verb
  • And there are a handful of seats at the top of the upper deck adjacent to the scoreboards that have obstructed views of one corner of the field, so few dozen fans will find a less than premium experience.
    — Edward Keegan, Chicago Tribune, 19 Sep. 2026
  • Reigns was obstructed from doing his usual moves without feeling any pain.
    — Ryan Gaydos OutKick, FOXNews.com, 15 Sep. 2026
Definition of obstructed

Browse Nearby Words

held a candle to
held back
held down
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Held back.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/held%20back. Accessed 3 Oct. 2026.

Copy Citation
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of tittle

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Do You Need a New Language Peeve?

More Commonly Mispronounced Words

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

7 Great Ways to Say 'Great'

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

The Words of the Week - Oct. 2

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World
See More

Popular

See More

Do You Need a New Language Peeve?

7 Great Ways to Say 'Great'

The Longest Long Words List
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
name tags
Words Named After People Quiz Find out who’s behind "leotard," "morphine," an...
See All