(click/touch triangles for details)
Definition
restricted; or lacking spontaneityor typically archaic: to force someone to do something
- The standard of living is ultimately constrained by worker productivity.
constrained = restricted
- Congressional power is constrained by the court.
- ...it is very grievous to be constrained to keep our hands off such a dainty dish as Narnia.C.S. Lewis -- The Horse and His Boy
- You shall say that I, did it without your knowledge and against your will, and without your blessing, being constrained by the violence of my love and the impetuosity of youth.C.S. Lewis -- The Horse and His Boy
- a constrained smile
- They seemed awkward and constrained in her presence, and she caught first one and then the other looking at her with secret curiosity.London, Jack -- Adventure
- The photographer came out and gave a constrained, apologetic laugh.Cather, Willa -- My Antonia
- He took her hand, and looked at her half-sadly, half with a constrained smile.Eliot, George -- Adam Bede
- But the elastic heart of youth cannot be compressed into one constrained shape long at a time.Twain, Mark -- Tom Sawyer
- She still looked agitated, and during the meal there was a somewhat constrained silence.Christie, Agatha -- The Mysterious Affair at Styles
- After five minutes of irksome, constrained conversation, they heard the sound of slippered feet rapidly approaching.Tolstoy, Leo -- War and Peace
- Mordaunt hesitated; but it seemed as though he was constrained to tell the truth.Dumas, Alexandre -- Twenty Years After
- Everyone ought to worship God according to his own inclinations, and not to be constrained by force.Flavius Josephus
- She met his eyes for an instant, but was immediately constrained to give all her attention to the scene now going forward.Hawthorne, Nathaniel -- The Scarlet Letter
- She ate her food in the deliberate, constrained way, almost as if she recoiled a little from doing anything so publicly, that he knew so well.D.H. Lawrence -- Sons and Lovers
- 'T is one that he is called upon, nay, constrained by all the obligations that form the bands of society, to discharge sincerely and honestly.Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, & John Jay -- The Federalist Papers
- I remember that Lowell had a long knitted purse, constrained by two rings; and that a sixpence always slipped out of the slit.Virginia Woolf -- A Sketch of the Past
- Oh, Rita hasn't written anything at all since the third task," said Hermione in an oddly constrained voice.J.K. Rowling -- Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
- There was no home, no help for the erring; even those who pitied were constrained to hardness.George Eliot -- The Mill on the Floss
- I would force myself on thee and constrain it, And it seems thou repellest my kiss: And yet 'tis thou, so good, so kind to see!Goethe (Johann Wolfgang von Goethe) -- Faust
constrained = restricted
constrained = restricted in action
constrained = restricted; or lacking spontaneity