CONSTRAINS Synonyms: 95 Similar and Opposite Words

constrains

verb

present tense third-person singular of constrain

as in compels

to cause (a person) to give in to pressure constrained by conscience to tell only the truth

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

as in regulates

to keep from exceeding a desirable degree or level (as of expression) constrained his anger at the needless interruption

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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 constrains The trailer shows Elisabeth, the Empress of Austria (Devrim Lingnau Islamoğlu), fighting for her heart, health and voice, as the Viennese court constrains her. — Jesse Whittock, Deadline, 7 Oct. 2026 This further constrains the supply of homes available to buyers. — Sheldon H. Jacobson, Washington Post, 30 Sep. 2026 In Quadlin and Rudel’s article, a student might become interested in the idea of student debt as either a responsibility that motivates them or a liability that constrains them. — Saurabh Anand, JSTOR Daily, 24 Sep. 2026 Fiscal Dominance Changes The Objective Fiscal dominance describes a regime in which the scale of public debt and deficits constrains monetary policy. — Dave Birnbaum, Forbes.com, 18 Aug. 2026 Advertisement The trouble with military hegemony The dominant role of Pakistan’s military further constrains political space. — Aqil Shah, Time, 17 Aug. 2026 In many ways, this constrains AI to human patterns of thinking. — IEEE Spectrum, 17 Aug. 2026 So, that really constrains the number in the House at the outset. — CBS News, 16 Aug. 2026 There are others, however, who disagree – arguing that the harms caused by gun deaths, drug abuse and overdose, and the spread of preventable disease require regulation that constrains or prohibits completely people’s freedom to choose. — Jen Cole Wright, The Conversation, 7 Aug. 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for constrains

Verb

Not the kind of empathy that simply allows someone to understand another person’s struggles, but the kind that compels them to do something about it.

— Chris Gardner, HollywoodReporter, 14 Oct. 2026
Here, Hendrikx plays anthropologist to a culture that compels each of us—whether a rider or not—to find our own vehicle for fulfillment, then take it to redline.

— Viju Mathew, Robb Report, 30 Sep. 2026

Definition of compels

Verb

The medications work by blocking certain chemical messengers in the part of the brain that regulates body temperature and manages sleep/wake cycles, according to the guidance.

— Shannon Firth, NPR, 16 Oct. 2026
That finding is now being read against a parallel body of research on circadian rhythm, the 24-hour internal clock that regulates eating, sleeping and other physiological processes.

— Hanna Wickes, Kansas City Star, 15 Oct. 2026

Definition of regulates

Verb

Writing strips out the reactive tone that damages trust and forces people to engage with the actual argument instead of the way it was said.

— Expert Panel®, Forbes.com, 16 Oct. 2026
Maya runs away from her pain by traveling the world, first to Portugal and then to London and Japan, but an unexpected romance forces her to confront her past and realize that there may be more than one love of her life.

— Ellise Shafer, Variety, 15 Oct. 2026

Definition of forces

Verb

However, the rotation of this filament clearly dominates how the galaxies within it spin, perhaps by funneling hydrogen gas along the dark-matter filament and onto the galaxies in a way that coerces their spin while providing further fuel for star formation.

— Keith Cooper, Space.com, 4 Dec. 2025
Haunted by the suspicious death of his ailing mother, Ali, a university professor, coerces his enigmatic gardener to execute a cold-blooded act of vengeance.

— Jill Goldsmith, Deadline, 14 Nov. 2025

Definition of coerces

Verb

But physicists have long suspected that at a subatomic level, there is a something that inherently controls how fast these changes can occur.

— Ameya Paleja, Interesting Engineering, 20 Oct. 2026
In fact, as Darman tutored me, the staff secretary sees and controls all information that goes to the President.

— Bob Woodward, New Yorker, 19 Oct. 2026

Definition of controls

Verb

The stabs at humor also fall flat, even if the gimmick of a priest injecting his enemies with a serum that obliges them to attend mass every Sunday is kind of fun the first time, but not really the second or third.

— Jordan Mintzer, HollywoodReporter, 11 Sep. 2026
And Ric Salinas, who plays Chachalacani, humorously obliges, bringing his Culture Clash vaudeville skills to the role of the sentry who’s caught between the rock of Klion’s tyranny and his fellow feeling for Antíkona’s sympathetic cause.

— Theater Critic, Los Angeles Times, 11 Sep. 2026

Definition of obliges

Verb

Farther down, the levee that restrains the rivers is a low line of trees into the horizon.

— Sean Macaday, Sacbee.com, 20 Sep. 2026
The constitutional exclusionary rule restrains government, not private parties, so the Fourth Amendment generally does not bar evidence wrongfully obtained by a private actor.

— Jihun Joun, The Conversation, 17 Sep. 2026

Definition of restrains

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constraining

constrains

constraint

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

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Synonyms of constrains

verb

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