restraint

1. 1.

   the act of controlling by restraining someone or something

   “the unlawful restraint of trade”

   Broadercontrol

   Narrowercollardamperbridleimmobilizationconfinementcontainmentsuppressionrestraint of traderestriction
2. 2.

   discipline in personal and social activities

   “he was a model of polite restraint”

   “she never lost control of herself”

   Synonymscontrol

   Antonymsunrestraint

   Broaderdiscipline

   Narrowerself-restrainttemperanceinhibitioncontinence
3. 3.

   the state of being physically constrained

   “dogs should be kept under restraint”

   Synonymsconstraint

   Broaderconfinement

   Narrowercage
4. 4.

   a rule or condition that limits freedom

   “legal restraints”

   “restraints imposed on imports”

   Broaderrestriction

   Narrowerfloodgate
5. 5.

   lack of ornamentation

   “the room was simply decorated with great restraint”

   Synonymschastenesssimplicitysimpleness

   Broaderplainness
6. 6.

   a device that retards something's motion

   “the car did not have proper restraints fitted”

   Synonymsconstraint

   Broaderdevice

   Narrowerair bagairbrakearresterbandbrakebrake padbrake shoecatchchainfastener

Other forms of restraint

plural

restraints·

Forms marked · are formed by the regular rule rather than recorded in the source data. English keeps a few hundred irregulars and the rest follow the pattern, so the rule is right far more often than not — but it is a rule, and the mark says so.

Questions about restraint

What does restraint mean?

restraint means "the act of controlling by restraining someone or something". That is the primary sense; the word has 6 in total, listed in full on this page.

How many syllables are in restraint?

restraint has 2 syllables: re-straint. The stress falls on "straint". In IPA it is /ɹɪˈstɹeɪnt/.

What is another word for restraint?

Close synonyms include control, constraint, chasteness, simplicity, simpleness. Each sense on this page lists its own synonyms, because a word with several meanings rarely has one substitute that works for all of them.

What is the opposite of restraint?

The recorded antonyms are unrestraint.

Is restraint a common word?

restraint is banded "Familiar" — widely understood, used when the subject calls for it. The band comes from how often the word appears in a large corpus of everyday English, not from an editor's impression.

What rhymes with restraint?

1 word rhymes with restraint. Rhymes are matched on the phonemes from the last stressed vowel onward, which is the definition a reader has in their head.