Both Uses of
constrained
in
Ethan Frome
- Andrew Hale was a ruddy man with a big gray moustache and a stubbly double-chin unconstrained by a collar; but his scrupulously clean shirt was always fastened by a small diamond stud.†
Chpt 4unconstrained = not restricted; or uninhibitedstandard prefix: The prefix "un-" in unconstrained means not and reverses the meaning of constrained. This is the same pattern you see in words like unhappy, unknown, and unlucky.
- Her sombre violence constrained him: she seemed the embodied instrument of fate.†
Chpt 9 *constrained = restricted; or lacking spontaneity
Definitions:
-
(1)
(constrained) restricted or inhibited
-
(2)
(meaning too rare to warrant focus) meaning too rare to warrant focus:
Much more rarely (and archaically), constrain can mean to force someone to do something.