stricture

[strik-cher]

noun

1. a remark or comment, especially an adverse criticism.

   The reviewer made several strictures upon the author's style.

2. an abnormal contraction of any passage or duct of the body.

3. Phonetics.,  a constriction of airflow in the vocal tract in the production of speech.

4. a restriction.

5. Archaic.,  the act of enclosing or binding tightly.

6. Obsolete.,  strictness.

stricture

/ ˈstrɪktʃə /

noun

1. a severe criticism; censure

2. pathol an abnormal constriction of a tubular organ, structure, or part

3. obsolete,  severity

Other Word Forms

• strictured adjective
• nonstrictured adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of stricture¹

1350–1400; Middle English < Late Latin strictūra tightening, equivalent to Latin strict ( us ) ( strict ) + -ūra -ure

Word History and Origins

Origin of stricture¹

C14: from Latin strictūra contraction; see _strict

Example Sentences

They may simply be buying time in the expectation that a succeeding president will reverse the strictures he has imposed.

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Set in the idyllic island of Naxos, Greece, Pochoda refashions Euripides’ “The Bacchae” to weave a hypnotic tale of recently widowed Lena, breaking free from the strictures imposed by the men in her life.

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You wanted to protect music from the strictures of school.

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The cast embodies such clearly defined horror character tropes that the film’s context reinforces systemic strictures, sending it a dozen steps backward from the “Fear Street” trilogy.

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Mina’s father flouted strictures; Sade’s mother subjugated herself to them — that is, until Sade went to jail on a serious felony and compassion for her daughter awakened her long-dormant maternal loyalty.

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Related Words

• restraint