inhibited
AmericanOther Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of inhibited
First recorded in 1960–65; inhibit + -ed 2 ( def. )
Explanation
If something is inhibited it's held back or kept from doing something. An inhibited infection is kept from spreading, possibly by antibiotics. We often use the word inhibited to describe someone’s behavior, especially if that person is self-conscious about doing something, but it also describes the simple fact of being restrained. If you washed your pants in hot water and they shrank and you could just barely squeeze them on, your movement would be inhibited. The Latin root of inhibited is inhibere, "to hold in or hold back."
Vocabulary lists containing inhibited
The Autobiography of Malcolm X
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Lesson 4
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"Love's Vocabulary" by Diane Ackerman
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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.
Once those circuits were inhibited, older workers returned to caring for the queen instead of performing the duties expected at their age.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 23, 2026
Possibly the same fear of making value judgments that has inhibited Bonnie from imposing common-sense discipline in her classroom has robbed “For Want of a Horse” of a propulsive point of view.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 21, 2026
The US State Department said last year that "official complicity, including at senior levels, inhibited effective law enforcement action against trafficking crimes" in Cambodia.
From Barron's ● Apr. 3, 2026
It was something neither she nor her coaches had ever clocked from just straight video footage, inhibited by limiting angles and baggy snowboarding clothing.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 4, 2026
The effect was only slightly inhibited by the fact that he had burned his eyebrows off again about two days ago.
From "The Name of the Wind" by Patrick Rothfuss
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.
