RESTRAINTS Synonyms: 21 Similar and Opposite Words

restraints

noun

plural of restraint

as in constraints

something that limits one's freedom of action or choice civil libertarians contend that the new laws place too many restraints on our constitutionally guaranteed rights

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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 restraints Last month, the San Jose City Council approved measures to tighten restraints over its 474 Flock cameras. —

Hema Sivanandam, Mercury News, 16 Apr. 2026 Following the report, there were major security improvements, and the hospital's public safety officers got training on the use of non-lethal restraints and pepper spray. —

Matt Schooley, CBS News, 13 Apr. 2026 Sensible restraints on increases in spending tied to the state’s economy were enacted in a historic bipartisan agreement nine years ago. —

Kevin Rennie, Hartford Courant, 11 Apr. 2026 The plaintiffs asked the court Wednesday for either a stay or preliminary injunction that would restore the previous restraints. —

ABC News, 8 Apr. 2026 Hegseth came out of his own service, in Iraq and Afghanistan, with the seeming conviction that what had stood in the way of a fuller victory in those wars had been the restraints supposedly placed on how soldiers could kill. —

Benjamin Wallace-Wells, New Yorker, 3 Apr. 2026 Ryan agreed to bring restraints, rope and a knife to the Banfields’ home. —

Tim Stelloh, NBC news, 3 Apr. 2026 The Artemis 2 astronauts use foot restraints to help stay in place while using the toilet, which uses airflow to draw solid waste away from the body and into a collection device. —

Tariq Malik, Space.com, 2 Apr. 2026 Day also suggests institutional restraints on the president have weakened considerably. —

Jesus Mesa, MSNBC Newsweek, 31 Mar. 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for restraints

Noun

The interest highlights a broader global scramble for copper, one in which supply constraints are colliding with soaring demand from electric vehicles and power grids.

— Tiisetso Motsoeneng, semafor.com, 22 Apr. 2026
By the 1980s, Agüero was among the many filmmakers working in Chile’s growing advertising industry, struggling with the practical constraints of moviemaking under the Pinochet dictatorship while also trying to find his cinematic voice.

— Christopher Vourlias, Variety, 22 Apr. 2026