restraint

American  

[ri-streynt] / rɪˈstreɪnt /

noun

• restraints
  plural

1. a restraining action or influence.

   freedom from restraint.

2. Sometimes restraints. a means of or device for restraining, as a harness for the body.

3. the act of restraining, holding back, controlling, or checking.

4. the state or fact of being restrained; deprivation of liberty; confinement.

   Synonyms:

   incarceration, imprisonment, restriction, circumscription

   Antonyms:

   liberty

5. constraint or reserve in feelings, behavior, etc.

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restraint British  

/ rɪˈstreɪnt /

noun

1. the ability to control or moderate one's impulses, passions, etc

   to show restraint

2. the act of restraining or the state of being restrained

3. something that restrains; restriction

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• overrestraint
  noun
• prerestraint
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• restraints
  plural

Etymology

Origin of restraint

1350–1400; Middle English restreinte < Middle French restrainte, noun use of feminine past participle of restraindre to restrain

Explanation

Restraint is the act of holding something back. For example, if you exercise restraint over your emotions, you won't burst out into tears in public. As you may have guessed from its similar spelling, the word restraint comes from the verb restrain, which in turn comes from the Latin word restringere, meaning "draw back tightly, confine, check." When talking about an object, a restraint is a device used to maintain control of something. For example, if your leg is operated on, the doctors will use a restraint to hold it still.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

restraint restraints

“I think there is a strong case there” for adding restraint and taking back some of last year’s rate cuts, Barkin said in an interview Friday.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 31, 2026

Last month, a long-delayed review commissioned by Waltham Forest found that restraint and seclusion became "normalised" and a culture developed that allowed "pejorative views of non-compliant children".

From BBC ● Jul. 31, 2026

Deployment doesn’t just unleash the airbag; it also deploys the car’s supplemental restraint system, the entire airbag system.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 13, 2026

Pakistan's top diplomat called for "de-escalation" and for all sides to "show restraint" during a phone call with his Iranian counterpart on Sunday, the foreign ministry said.

From Barron's ● Jul. 12, 2026

The overriding honesty and intimacy of the correspondence with Rush permitted this projection to express itself without restraint.

From "Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation" by Joseph J. Ellis

That leads to a long discussion of the use of restraints on the elderly.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 20, 2026

Specificity is key, because AI recommendations are going to be more targeted if there are more restraints in the prompt.

From MarketWatch ● May 19, 2026

There are also other potential restraints on the U.S. escalating.

From Barron's ● Apr. 8, 2026

The judges found in the case of three restraints, force used was "not reasonable in all the circumstances" and that £2,000 in compensatory damages for each of them awarded in 2024 remained warranted.

From BBC ● Apr. 6, 2026

With a roaring shout, Gia broke out of Ella's restraints with the ease of snapping ribbons wrapped around a gift-box.

From "The Marvellers" by Dhonielle Clayton

Related Words

• ban
• constraint
• curb
• embargo
• limit
• prohibition
• reduction
• restriction