Restrained

How to spell restrained

10 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce restrained

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does restrained mean?

1. verbHeld back, controlled, or physically prevented from acting; the past tense of restrain.
2. adjectiveCalm, controlled, and free of excess or showiness in manner or style.

Restrained in a sentence

• verb

  Security staff restrained the man until the police arrived.

• adjective

  The office was decorated in a restrained palette of grey and white.

• verb

  She restrained her anger and answered the email calmly.

• adjective

  His restrained reply gave away none of his frustration.

Where does restrained come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word traces back to the Latin verb restringere, which combined re- meaning 'back' with stringere meaning 'to draw or bind tight'; so the literal idea was to bind something back or hold it in check. The same stringere root gives us 'strict', 'stringent', and 'strain', all of which carry that sense of tightness or pulling. Latin restringere passed into Old French as restreindre, and English adopted it during the 1300s as 'restrain', meaning to hold back or keep under control. The past participle 'restrained' then settled into double duty: it works as the plain past form of the verb and as an adjective describing a calm, controlled, unshowy manner. The hidden trap in spelling is the silent stretch in the middle, since the 'strain' segment is written exactly like the everyday word for effort, even though the sound glides past quickly.

How the word is built

• re- (back)
• strain (draw tight, from Latin stringere)
• -ed (past tense / adjective suffix)