HELD BACK Synonyms: 107 Similar and Opposite Words

held back

verb

past tense of hold back

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

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as in stifled

to refrain from openly showing or uttering held back her tears until she was alone

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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 With this new tech, the cooling limit that has held back computer chip design can be broken. —

Mrigakshi Dixit, Interesting Engineering, 8 May 2026 Most of the works were sold off by the French state during the 1950s, according to the Musée d’Orsay’s website, but 2,200 were held back for safekeeping by the country’s national museums. —

Lianne Kolirin, CNN Money, 8 May 2026 In the hallways, other shouting protesters were held back by Tennessee state troopers. —

Arkansas Online, 8 May 2026 There were also other incidents included in complaints to the athletic department pertaining to workouts that are currently being investigated, as well as allegations that the head coach held back on money that was supposed to be given to the players for meal expenses while traveling to away games. —

Trey Wallace Outkick, FOXNews.com, 7 May 2026 In the hallways, other shouting protesters were held back by Tennessee state troopers. —

Travis Loller, Los Angeles Times, 7 May 2026 Piggy, whom Golding gives no other name, gets one here — Nicholas — albeit held back until later in the series. —

Robert Lloyd, Boston Herald, 7 May 2026 This is the same structural problem that has held back AI adoption in agriculture more broadly. —

Daniel Fusch, USA Today, 29 Apr. 2026 Security is a major concern for mining companies looking to enter DR Congo and has held back the development of extractive industries in Africa’s second-largest nation by land mass, which for years has fought rebels in the east of the country. —

semafor.com, 27 Apr. 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for held back

Verb

Abreu came through again with a sacrifice fly to score Jarren Duran in the bottom of the inning, but the potential Red Sox rally was hampered after Willson Contreras was thrown out at second trying to stretch a single into a double for the inning’s first out.

— Mac Cerullo, Boston Herald, 8 May 2026
The wear and tear of lengthy overtimes also hampered the Mammoth’s skaters.

— Shayna Goldman, New York Times, 6 May 2026