1
as in restraint
the power to control one's actions, impulses, or emotions
she demonstrated an almost unnatural self-restraint during the fight
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in discipline
the checking of one's true feelings and impulses when dealing with others
we must practice self-restraint even with people who are deliberately rude
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of self-restraint
Besieged by stress, people are often poorly trained in self-restraint.
—
Reader Commentary, Baltimore Sun, 25 Apr. 2025
Stormi went viral for the same candy game when Jenner tested her self-restraint at 2 years old in a video posted on her social media in May 2020.
—Escher Walcott, People.com, 21 Apr. 2025
Voters can, however, favor those who pursue self-restraint.
—John Nemec, The Conversation, 7 Apr. 2025
Without meaningful regulation or self-restraint by AI firms, the arms race between data-hungry bots and those attempting to defend open source infrastructure seems likely to escalate further, potentially deepening the crisis for the digital ecosystem that underpins the modern Internet.
—Ars Technica, 25 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for self-restraint
Reader Commentary, Baltimore Sun, 25 Apr. 2025
Stormi went viral for the same candy game when Jenner tested her self-restraint at 2 years old in a video posted on her social media in May 2020.
—Escher Walcott, People.com, 21 Apr. 2025
Voters can, however, favor those who pursue self-restraint.
—John Nemec, The Conversation, 7 Apr. 2025
Without meaningful regulation or self-restraint by AI firms, the arms race between data-hungry bots and those attempting to defend open source infrastructure seems likely to escalate further, potentially deepening the crisis for the digital ecosystem that underpins the modern Internet.
—Ars Technica, 25 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for self-restraint
Recent Examples of Synonyms for self-restraint
Noun
-
Americans for Prosperity ― Ogles' former employer and that of many of his congressional staff ― is a political special interest group that advocates for limited government, free markets and fiscal restraint.—
Vivian Jones,
Nashville Tennessean,
5 Sep. 2025
-
Enyedi has often made meditative cinema, but here her restraint in some sequences verges on suffocating.—
Leila Latif,
IndieWire,
5 Sep. 2025
Noun
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Battery dismantling requires skills that cross multiple disciplines.—
Aamir Khollam,
Interesting Engineering,
2 Sep. 2025
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Hufnagel, a 60-year-old who graduated from Barry University’s School of Law in 2005 and joined the Bar later that year, had an otherwise clean 10-year discipline history.—
David J. Neal,
Miami Herald,
2 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Self-restraint.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/self-restraint. Accessed 9 Sep. 2025.
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