as in kept (from)
to resist the temptation of
couldn't refrain from ruffling her nephew's neatly combed hair whenever she saw him
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for refrained (from)
avoided
Verb
-
What has also helped its adoption and acceptance, besides the technology working, is that Stacy and his team have avoided trying to reinvent the fan viewing experience.—
Andrew Marchand,
New York Times,
8 Apr. 2026 -
For now, Ragans avoided a major injury scare.—
Jaylon Thompson,
Kansas City Star,
8 Apr. 2026
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.
Cite this Entry
“Refrained (from).” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/refrained%20%28from%29. Accessed 10 Apr. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
