as in restraint
the power to control one's actions, impulses, or emotions
a man of extraordinary self-containment, he refused to lose his temper even in the most trying of circumstances
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Recent Examples of self-containment
Stability starts with self-containment.
—
Usa Today, USA Today, 25 Mar. 2026
What sets Return apart is its perfect self-containment.
—Brad Shoup, Pitchfork, 24 Jan. 2026
And for people who equate maturity with self-containment, that can feel threatening.
—Mark Travers, Forbes.com, 7 Jan. 2026
Throughout the crisis, her burgeoning friendship with the hostage’s wife, challenges Barb’s usual sense of propriety and self-containment.
—Matt Grobar, Deadline, 27 Aug. 2025
Cregger maintains the film’s self-containment.
—Andy Crump, Time, 9 Aug. 2025
Usa Today, USA Today, 25 Mar. 2026
What sets Return apart is its perfect self-containment.
—Brad Shoup, Pitchfork, 24 Jan. 2026
And for people who equate maturity with self-containment, that can feel threatening.
—Mark Travers, Forbes.com, 7 Jan. 2026
Throughout the crisis, her burgeoning friendship with the hostage’s wife, challenges Barb’s usual sense of propriety and self-containment.
—Matt Grobar, Deadline, 27 Aug. 2025
Cregger maintains the film’s self-containment.
—Andy Crump, Time, 9 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for self-containment
restraint
Noun
-
No official casualty figures were immediately available from the violence that prompted calls for restraint from the United Nations and the United States as the government and opposition traded blame for the violence.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
4 June 2026
-
However, the negotiations have allowed Trump to say that relations with China are in good shape and that both countries have exercised restraint.—
Thomas Wright,
The Atlantic,
4 June 2026
Cite this Entry
“Self-containment.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/self-containment. Accessed 6 Jun. 2026.
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