Meaning & use
constrain
Last updated
to severely restrict the scope, freedom, or growth of something.
See it in a sentence
Limited funding constrains what the research team can accomplish this year.
Social expectations often constrain how openly people express grief.
A note on using this word
The related noun form is "constraint," widely used in academic, scientific, and business writing to describe a limiting factor.
Words with a similar meaning
Choose a synonym to suit the sentence. Meanings can overlap without being identical.
Words with an opposite meaning
freeliberate
Make it your own
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