Meaning & use
strained relationship
Last updated
Meaning
nouncountable
A connection between people, groups or countries that is tense and uncomfortable because of disagreement, distrust or ongoing problems.
Grammar: Usually follows have or describe: they have a strained relationship.
Patterns
- a strained relationship with someone
- a strained relationship between A and B
She has a strained relationship with her stepfather, and they rarely talk about anything personal.
The two neighboring countries have had a strained relationship since the border dispute.
Money worries put a strained relationship under even more pressure.
Word forms
| plural | strained relationships |
|---|
Common combinations
- have a strained relationship
- I have a strained relationship with my landlord after the dispute over the deposit.
- a strained relationship between
- There was a strained relationship between the manager and her team.
- repair a strained relationship
- He called his brother in the hope of repairing their strained relationship.
- cause a strained relationship
- Constant arguments about chores caused a strained relationship between the roommates.
- a strained relationship with
- The singer admitted to a strained relationship with her father.
- ease a strained relationship
- A friendly meeting helped ease the strained relationship between the two firms.
Synonyms and how they differ
- tense relationship
- Very close in meaning, but tense stresses the nervous atmosphere in the moment, while strained suggests pressure that has built up over time.
- troubled relationship
- Troubled is broader and can include deep problems such as abuse or addiction, whereas strained is milder and about tension and awkwardness.
- rocky relationship
- Rocky is more informal and implies ups and downs, while strained suggests a steady, uncomfortable tension.
- fraught relationship
- Fraught is stronger and more formal, suggesting a relationship full of emotional danger or conflict.
Opposites
Word family
- strain noun
- pressure or tension that makes something hard to bear
- strain verb
- to make a relationship or resource harder to maintain
- strained adjective
- tense or forced, as in a strained smile
- relationship noun
- the way two people or groups are connected
Commonly confused: strained relationship or stained relationship?
strained relationship vs stained relationship
This is not a standard phrase. Stained means marked with dirt or spoiled, while strained refers to tension.
Practice
After the argument over the inheritance, the siblings had a ______ relationship for years.
Choose one answer.
Strained is the usual word for a relationship made tense by problems. Strict describes rules, and strapped describes lack of money.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “strained relationship”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.