as in to keep (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
as in restraint
the checking of one's true feelings and impulses when dealing with others
students in the class should show some generosity and refrainment when critiquing the work of their fellow photographers
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for refrain (from)
Noun
-
Walmart, Whole Foods, and Amazon also faced calls for economic restraint by consumers.—
Karen R. King,
Forbes.com,
30 Apr. 2025 -
China, which claims control of part of Kashmir has also called for restraint.—
Tom Rogers,
MSNBC Newsweek,
30 Apr. 2025
Verb
-
Until the masses adopt it, fraudsters can simply avoid platforms that require World ID and continue doing business as usual.—
Jennifer Jolly,
USA Today,
2 May 2025
-
The easy way to avoid this problem is to pick a nonsensical answer to the security question.—
Steve Weisman,
Forbes.com,
1 May 2025
Noun
-
This military-style education extended to other forms of discipline, too.—
Jessie Yeung,
CNN Money,
3 May 2025
-
Each event features athletes competing in two races in one of six disciplines, broken up by gender and distance.—
Zack Pierce,
New York Times,
3 May 2025
Noun
-
That leaves ‘financial repression’ - forcing US citizens or their agents (pension funds, insurance companies, banks) to hold US Treasuries.—
Kevin Coldiron,
Forbes.com,
7 May 2025
-
Foreign students appear to have replaced the immigrant union leaders of the 1950s as the targets of government repression.—
Rick Baldoz,
The Conversation,
30 Apr. 2025
Noun
-
Just in time for the full moon in Libra on April 12, Luna will illuminate your 12th house of secrets, inhibitions and unconscious patterns, urging you to let go of patterns that no longer serve you.—
Valerie Mesa,
People.com,
5 Apr. 2025
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His research team, in partnership with associate professor Sakiko Okumoto at Texas A&M University, hopes to study plant mechanisms in sorghum and capitalize on its innate ability to inhibit nitrogen loss, a process known as biological nitrification inhibition (BNI).—
Robin Roenker,
USA Today,
18 Apr. 2025
Noun
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Their scorching hot start has been the result of a long lineup, run suppression and an energetic style of play that wears out other teams on both sides of the ball.—
Abbey Mastracco,
New York Daily News,
30 Apr. 2025
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The film highlights many issues that remain relevant even decades after the case - the suppression of the media and misuse of laws to crush dissent.—
Sweta Kaushal,
Forbes.com,
28 Apr. 2025
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Cite this Entry
“Refrain (from).” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/refrain%20%28from%29. Accessed 15 May. 2025.
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