CIRCUMSCRIBED Synonyms: 130 Similar and Opposite Words

circumscribed 1 of 2

adjective

as in limited

having distinct or certain limits the powers of that state's governor are so sharply circumscribed that often his hands are tied by the state legislature

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

circumscribed

2 of 2

verb

past tense of circumscribe

as in restricted

to set bounds or an upper limit for circumscribed his enthusiasm so as not to make the losing side feel worse

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

as in defined

to mark the limits of Lake Michigan circumscribes the city of Chicago on the east

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of circumscribed

Adjective

Through it all, Nussbaum chafed at the circumscribed role of women. — Literary Hub, 24 Sep. 2026 Of course the playwright has prepared the way, but the wayward emotions emanating from these inwardly glowing performances are refreshing in work that has the crisp, circumscribed elegance of a mathematical proof. — Theater Critic, Los Angeles Times, 16 Sep. 2026 Signs will redirect cyclists around the circumscribed area, requiring them in some cases to take winding alternative routes. — Rachel Swan, San Francisco Chronicle, 6 Feb. 2026 Yes, their lives have become this circumscribed. — Lisa Kennedy, Variety, 31 Jan. 2026 Thompson-Hernández acknowledges that while Watts might be a small community, a relative sliver of greater Los Angeles, imagination flourishes in the most circumscribed places. — Vikram Murthi, IndieWire, 29 Jan. 2026 Joan understands that their circumscribed lives now give their eternity its meaning. — Jp Mangalindan, Time, 26 Nov. 2025 In reality, as for most visiting celebrities, her itinerary was narrowly circumscribed. — Zak Cheney-Rice, Vulture, 6 Nov. 2025 While Swift’s life is extraordinary, it’s also cloistered by wealth and celebrity; perhaps the range of feelings she’s allowed to experience has become circumscribed. — Amanda Petrusich, New Yorker, 3 Oct. 2025

Verb

But as an American of Chinese heritage, her travel was circumscribed by the Chinese Exclusion Act (1882-1943). — Literary Hub, 17 Sep. 2026 In the course of the film, Hargitay reevaluates her mom, forming a fuller picture of how Mansfield’s career choices were circumscribed by the egregious sexism of the 1950s and ‘60s. — Matthew Carey, Deadline, 17 Aug. 2026 Representatives from hostile states like Russia, China, Iran, and North Korea are circumscribed in their movements, typically limited to a small radius around their official posts—an embassy, a consulate, a permanent mission to the UN. — Adam Ciralsky, Vanity Fair, 19 Mar. 2026 Eventually, the area in the Pentagon where reporters were allowed was circumscribed to a single corridor outside the press room – even though the public affairs officers who worked most closely with reporters were in an office on the other side of the 6½-million-square-foot building. — Kathy Kiely, The Conversation, 17 Mar. 2026 Under the Constitution, the concept of a militia is a specific and narrowly circumscribed one. — Larry Pino, The Orlando Sentinel, 1 Feb. 2026 But the apartheid regime became a police state that heavily circumscribed its white citizens’ lives, too. — Eve Fairbanks, The Dial, 27 Jan. 2026 Their sovereign capacity to realign is circumscribed by the very architectures that protect them. — Pratap Bhanu Mehta, Time, 15 Jan. 2026 Only one major financial institution is currently investing in a presence downtown, defined as the area circumscribed by I-35, I-30, I-45 and Woodall Rogers Freeway. — Sasha Richie, Dallas Morning News, 9 Jan. 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for circumscribed

Adjective

The collaboration centers on Muse Spark Open, the most capable open-weight model released under a license that allows for limited commercial use, according to Meta.

— Kif Leswing,Jonathan Vanian, CNBC, 15 Oct. 2026
Departments with limited staffing may not have the resources to dedicate multiple investigators to tracking down a suspect vehicle.

— Gino Vicci, CBS News, 15 Oct. 2026

Definition of limited

Verb

Users were likely restricted from properly spelling out such words because, by design, the platform prevents emoji from being used more than once in reaction to a post.

— ABC News, ABC News, 17 Oct. 2026
Remember, Googlebooks are restricted to running Android apps, which generally aren't as fully featured as their PC and Mac counterparts.

— Joe Osborne, PC Magazine, 16 Oct. 2026

Definition of restricted

Verb

The Packers have appeared to find some consistency on the defensive side, and their passing attack is defined enough to attack this Cowboys secondary.

— Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 17 Oct. 2026
And the fact that its end coincides with an onslaught of other work is not lost on Brammall, whose career, with a few exceptions, has been largely defined by his work in the Southern Hemisphere.

— Mikey O'Connell, HollywoodReporter, 17 Oct. 2026

Definition of defined

Adjective

However, any potential signal is expected to be faint and can be obscured by cosmic variance, the statistical uncertainty that arises when observations cover only a finite portion of the universe.

— Kaif Shaikh, Interesting Engineering, 20 Oct. 2026
For many, being told that life is a series of dark trade-offs in a deadly struggle over finite resources does not sound far-fetched at all.

— Via Haymarket Books, Literary Hub, 7 Oct. 2026

Definition of finite

Verb

Not one confined to a single house, summit, or handful of world leaders.

— Halla Tómasdóttir, Time, 16 Oct. 2026
The district judge confined Biddy and most of the Black children in the county jail, ostensibly for their own protection from their unscrupulous enslaver.

— Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 15 Oct. 2026

Definition of confined

Verb

Russia’s support for Tehran has been operationally meaningful but carefully bounded.

— Andrea Kendall-Taylor, Foreign Affairs, 16 Oct. 2026
Finally the buck turned, bounded up on top of the bank, still in thickets where no arrow could get through, and started to walk around my tree.

— Al Dawson, Outdoor Life, 15 Oct. 2026

Definition of bounded

Adjective

The decision to set that tone staggering through all 10 minutes of the extended cut might scan as raw inspiration, placing Spacemen 3 on a narrow band from La Monte Young and Terry Riley to some brilliant dro)))ne future.

— Gabriel Szatan, Pitchfork, 18 Oct. 2026
Recent polls have shown Jackson holding only a narrow lead over Democrat Keisha Lance Bottoms.

— DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE STAFF FROM WIRE REPORTS, Arkansas Online, 17 Oct. 2026

Definition of narrow

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circumscribe

circumscribed

circumscribes

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“Circumscribed.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/circumscribed. Accessed 21 Oct. 2026.

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Synonyms of circumscribed

adjective

verb

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