Adjacent Words

Constrained definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

CONSTRAINED, pp. Urged irresistibly or powerfully; compelled; forced; restrained; confined; bound; imprisoned; necessitated.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

adj
1: lacking spontaneity; not natural; "a constrained smile"; "forced heartiness"; "a strained smile" [syn: constrained, forced, strained]

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Constrained Con*strained", a. Marked by constraint; not free; not voluntary; embarrassed; as, a constrained manner; a constrained tone.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

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

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unapproachable, uncongenial, undemonstrative, under control, under discipline, under restraint, unexpansive, ungenial, withdrawn