verb · neutral
constrain
/kənˈstreɪn/con·STRAIN
to limit or restrict someone's actions or freedom, or to force something to happen in a particular way
Examples
“Budget limits constrain the scope of the project.”
“Cultural norms may constrain individual behaviour.”
“Time constraints meant we had to simplify the experiment.”
Band 8 sentence
“Although innovative methods exist, practical funding constraints frequently prevent their widespread adoption.”
Collocations
- be constrained by
- time/resource constraints
Word family
Common mistakes
The budget will constrain to our plans.→The budget will constrain our plans.
We are constrain by time.→We are constrained by time.
Say it for a higher band
5restrict (NB: common lower-level word)→6limit→7+constrain
Synonyms
limit
Easily confused
limit
“New regulations limit the number of hours employees can work.”
Related words
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In Sublist 4
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