Synonyms for restrained
- adjective
Most common
reticent reserved unemotional undemonstrative subdued understated
Synonyms by meaning
Adjective
1. Reticent
Other
Definitions
- adj. 1
Held back, limited, kept in check or under control.
He greeted her for the first time in three years with a restrained embrace.
Choose the right word
One may be restrained of his liberty without arrest, as in an insane asylum; an individual or corporation may be restrained by injunction from selling certain property.
J. C. Fernald, English Synonyms and Antonyms (1914)
Example sentences
- reticent He is reticent and he never speaks unless spoken to.
- unemotional Think of me as an unemotional woman.
- subdued The policemen subdued Tom and handcuffed him.
- understated Algeria's economic progress cannot be understated.
- guarded Sami's infidelity was his closely guarded secret.
Popularity over time
| Word | 1850 → 2019 | Trend |
|---|---|---|
| restrained | steady | |
| reticent | rising | |
| unemotional | rising | |
| undemonstrative | rising | |
| subdued | rising | |
| understated | steady |
Use in printed books, per decade from 1850 to 2019.
By length
- 4 letters
- cold1
- 5 letters
- quiet2, plain1
- 6 letters
- simple2
- 7 letters
- guarded2, subdued2
- 8 letters
- moderate3, reserved2, reticent3
- 9 letters
- temperate2
- 11 letters
- understated4, unemotional5, unexpansive
- 15 letters
- undemonstrative
The small number after each word is its number of syllables (quiet2 = 2 syllables).