restrain

American  

[ri-streyn] / rɪˈstreɪn /

verb (used with object)

1. to hold back from action; keep in check or under control; repress.

   to restrain one's temper.

   Synonyms:

   constrain, suppress, curb, control, bridle

   Antonyms:

   unbridle

2. to deprive of liberty, as by arrest or the like.

   Synonyms:

   hamper, hinder, circumscribe, restrict, imprison, confine

   Antonyms:

   release, liberate, free

3. to limit or hamper the activity, growth, or effect of.

   to restrain trade with Cuba.

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restrain British  

/ rɪˈstreɪn /

verb

1. to hold (someone) back from some action, esp by force

2. to deprive (someone) of liberty, as by imprisonment

3. to limit or restrict

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Related Words

See check ¹.

Other Word Forms

• overrestrain verb (used with object)
• prerestrain verb (used with object)
• restrainability noun
• restrainable adjective
• restrainingly adverb
• unrestrainable adjective

Etymology

Origin of restrain

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English restreynen, from Middle French restreindre, from Latin restringere “to bind back, bind fast”; equivalent to re- + strain ¹

Explanation

Restrain means to hold yourself back, which is exactly what you'd have to do if, after weeks of dieting, you found yourself face to face with a dessert case filled with pies, cakes, and cookies. Restrain can also mean to restrict or hold back someone else, to prevent someone from doing what they're intending to do. Prison guards have to restrain a prisoner who is trying to attack one of his fellow inmates. That prisoner might even be put in handcuffs — a kind of restraint. You can restrain yourself, for example if you're watching a Broadway show and suddenly feel the urge to sing along. Your fellow audience members would be grateful for your restraint, especially if you've got a terrible voice.

Example Sentences

Congress created Medicare Advantage in 1997 with the goal of using market competition to improve care for seniors and restrain spending.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 9, 2026

That's a struggle many businesses share, with Ukraine's central bank saying recently that "The difficult situation in the energy sector will continue to restrain business activity for a long time".

From BBC • Mar. 15, 2026

Barron’s Live: Matt McLennan and his First Eagle colleagues started the year highlighting the risks of America’s twin deficits, hyperscaler spending, and “geopolitical disequilibrium”—all forces that continue to restrain the U.S. stock market.

From Barron's • Mar. 9, 2026

It takes a special effort to restrain yourself from touching these alluringly dimensional surfaces.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 26, 2026

We can’t restrain him when he’s angry—and he has his hand on the nuclear button’—and Ho Chi Minh himself will be in Paris in two days begging for peace.”

From "Boots on the Ground: America's War in Vietnam" by Elizabeth Partridge

Related Words

• confine
• constrain
• control
• curb
• curtail
• detain
• deter
• govern
• hamper
• hinder
• inhibit
• keep down
• kill
• limit
• prevent
• repress
• restrict
• subdue
• suppress