CONSTRAINED DEFINITIONS - 5 definitions found
constrained adj 1: lacking spontaneity; not natural; "a constrained smile"; "forced heartiness"; "a strained smile" [syn: constrained, forced, strained] Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) Constrained \Con*strained"\, a. Marked by constraint; not free; not voluntary; embarrassed; as, a constrained manner; a constrained tone. Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) Constrain \Con*strain"\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Constrained; p. pr. & vb. n. Constraining.] [OF. constraindre, F. contrainde, L. constringere; con- + stringere to draw tight. See Strain, and. cf. Constrict, Constringe.] 1. To secure by bonds; to chain; to bond or confine; to hold tightly; to constringe. He binds in chains The drowsy prophet, and his limbs constrains. --Dryden. When winter frosts constrain the fields with cold. --Dryden. 2. To bring into a narrow compass; to compress. How the strait stays the slender waist constrain. --Gay. 3. To hold back by force; to restrain; to repress. My sire in caves constrains the winds. --Dryden. 4. To compel; to force; to necessitate; to oblige. The love of Christ constraineth us. --2. Cor. v. 14. I was constrained to appeal unto C[ae]sar. --Acts xxviii. 19. 5. To violate; to ravish. [Obs.] --Shak. 6. To produce in such a manner as to give an unnatural effect; as, a constrained voice. Syn: To compel; force; drive; impel; urge; press. Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 70 Moby Thesaurus words for "constrained": Olympian, aloof, arrested, backward, bashful, blank, bridled, chastened, chilled, chilly, cold, controlled, cool, curbed, detached, discreet, distant, expressionless, forbidding, frigid, frosty, guarded, hushed, icy, impassive, impersonal, in check, in control, in hand, in leading strings, in remission, inaccessible, incommunicable, inhibited, introverted, limited, modest, noncommittal, offish, on leash, pent-up, quelled, quiet, remote, removed, repressed, reserved, restrained, retarded, reticent, retiring, shrinking, slowed down, softened, stable, standoff, standoffish, subdued, suppressed, tempered, unaffable, unapproachable, uncongenial, undemonstrative, under control, under discipline, under restraint, unexpansive, ungenial, withdrawn |
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