constraint
Americannoun
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limitation or restriction.
- Synonyms:
- pressure, obligation, force
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repression of natural feelings and impulses.
to practice constraint.
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unnatural restraint in manner, conversation, etc.; embarrassment.
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something that constrains.
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the act of constraining.
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the condition of being constrained. constrain.
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Linguistics. a restriction on the operation of a linguistic rule or the occurrence of a linguistic construction.
noun
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compulsion, force, or restraint
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repression or control of natural feelings or impulses
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a forced unnatural manner; inhibition
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something that serves to constrain; restrictive condition
social constraints kept him silent
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linguistics any very general restriction on a sentence formation rule
Other Word Forms
- nonconstraint noun
Etymology
Origin of constraint
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English constreinte, from Middle French, noun use of feminine past participle of constreindre “to constrain”; constrain
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
In 2022, loose monetary and fiscal policy combined with an energy shock and supply constraints to create a "perfect storm for inflation", he said.
From Barron's
“Management has suggested that AI compute could become a bottleneck within the next three to four years, implying that any serious effort to address this constraint would need to begin well ahead of that window.”
From Barron's
"That matters because traffic is exposed not only during the brief transit of the strait, but during the longer 'funnelling' phase where routes, speed constraints, and predictable lanes increase vulnerability."
From Barron's
“Upstream production continues to decline as producers try to manage storage constraints,” analysts at ING say.
But its use in microscopy has been limited by a fundamental constraint known as the diffraction limit.
From Science Daily
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
