constraint

UK: /kənˈstreɪnt/ US: /kənˈstreɪnt/ ,(kən strānt′)

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2025

con•straint /kənˈstreɪnt/   n. 

1. a limitation;
   something that restricts one's actions or powers:
   [countable] There were so many constraints in my new position that I had more responsibility and less authority.
2. the holding back or tight controlling of natural feelings and desires:
   [uncountable] He kept his voice quiet with constraint and subdued his anger.

See -strain-.

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025

con•straint  (kən strānt′), n. 

1. limitation or restriction.
2. repression of natural feelings and impulses:
   to practice constraint.
3. unnatural restraint in manner, conversation, etc.;
   embarrassment.
4. something that constrains.
5. the act of constraining.
6. the condition of being constrained.
7. Linguistics a restriction on the operation of a linguistic rule or the occurrence of a linguistic construction.

• Middle French, noun, nominal use of feminine past participle of constreindre; see constrain
• Middle English constreinte 1350–1400

Synonyms

• 1. force, obligation, pressure.

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

constraint / kənˈstreɪnt/ noun

1. compulsion, force, or restraint
2. repression or control of natural feelings or impulses
3. a forced unnatural manner; inhibition
4. something that serves to constrain; restrictive condition: social constraints kept him silent
5. any very general restriction on a sentence formation rule