HOLDING BACK Synonyms: 109 Similar and Opposite Words

holding back

verb

present participle of hold back

as in impeding

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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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

as in stifling

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 holding back Many CEOs who run this experiment are surprised by how much intelligence the team had been holding back. — Janet M Harvey, Forbes.com, 10 July 2026 But that's not the only thing holding back first-time buyers. — Phaedra Trethan, USA Today, 7 July 2026 But it hadn't been spotted in Lake Superior, leading researchers to speculate that water temperatures or other factors were holding back its spread there. — Keith Matheny, Freep.com, 3 July 2026 What is holding back Europe’s rearmament push Building the capacity Europe needs to ensure strategic autonomy has proved difficult. — Elsa Ohlen, CNBC, 1 July 2026 But good for him for not holding back. — Arushi Jacob, Variety, 17 June 2026 There was no holding back on the project’s ambition. — Jack Pitt-Brooke, New York Times, 2 June 2026 And more pressure is coming from powerful education groups because Newsom is holding back some school funds that the constitution requires to be paid. — Dan Walters, Mercury News, 28 May 2026 Smaller drones are also holding back Russian troops along the 1,250-kilometer (780-mile) front line and disrupting the supply lines of Russia’s invading army, Western analysts and officials say. — ABC News, 27 May 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for holding back

Verb

These vehicles were blocking and impeding fire operations, and several were non-operational and required tow truck assistance for removal.

— Jeff Nguyen, CBS News, 1 July 2026
Florida’s sanctuary city laws forbid local governments from impeding ICE from doing its job, such as by not sharing information with the federal government.

— Syra Ortiz Blanes, Miami Herald, 26 June 2026

Definition of impeding

Verb

Cubans strolled along el Paseo del Prado promenade in the inky night, desperate to escape the stifling heat of their homes.

— Romina Ruiz-Goiriena, USA Today, 6 July 2026
There was criticism from some Republicans, who said the commissioner had gone too far and was stifling free speech.

— Max Tani, semafor.com, 6 July 2026

Definition of stifling

Verb

Because the injection must then be sent (or pushed) to each specific target, the scale of the attack is limited, hampering mass exploits that hit the Internet at large.

— Dan Goodin, ArsTechnica, 8 July 2026
Authorities divided the area into zones as rescue crews, including disaster response teams and sniffer dogs, searched the region for missing despite heavy rain hampering operations, Devamanohar, a local police official, told reporters.

— ABC News, ABC News, 8 July 2026

Definition of hampering

Verb

Communism is a system of government in which the ruling party controls major investment decisions while hoarding wealth for itself and suppressing all opposition.

— Jonathan Chait, The Atlantic, 8 July 2026
In his view, the Bank of Japan is suppressing bond yields to prevent interest costs on the debt pile from becoming unmanageable.

— Jason Ma, Fortune, 6 July 2026

Definition of suppressing

Verb

Thai officials said investigators would examine the ceiling materials and whether any emergency exits were obstructed, potentially hindering evacuation.

— ABC News, ABC News, 13 July 2026
Meanwhile, most workers find themselves on the hook to fund more of their own retirement than their parents did and to pay more for their healthcare and insurance coverage, hindering their efforts to save for retirement.

— Jeffrey Anvari-Clark, The Conversation, 10 July 2026

Definition of hindering

Verb

Stopa went on the run, later killing herself by swallowing poison in a Detroit hotel room.

— Kori Rumore, Chicago Tribune, 11 July 2026
Some of the ways a person can get infected is by drinking untreated water, washing or watering fresh produce with contaminated water, or swallowing contaminated water from swimming pools, hot tubs and lakes, according to Cleveland Clinic.

— Michelle Marchante July 10, Miami Herald, 10 July 2026

Definition of swallowing

Verb

Ukraine has carried out major drone strikes on Russia’s two largest cities, embarrassing the Kremlin with images of black plumes of smoke that circulated widely online, despite regulations restricting their publication.

— ABC News, ABC News, 1 July 2026
But in this case, the ejection was absolutely unnecessary and, frankly, embarrassing for Lentz.

— Levi Weaver, New York Times, 30 June 2026

Definition of embarrassing

Verb

Much of the penultimate episode is about tying up loose ends and spending some wholesome time together before the eliminations inevitably begin, and … honestly, everyone is just getting along pretty well.

— Ben Rosenstock, Vulture, 11 July 2026
From a customer standpoint, no traveler has ever chosen a flight based on who holds the title to the aircraft, so airlines quietly stopped tying up capital to own them.

— Mushfig Aliyev, Forbes.com, 8 July 2026