Synonyms for restrict
Most common
Definitions
- v. 1
To restrain within boundaries; to limit; to confine
After suffering diahrroea, the patient was restricted to a diet of rice, cold meat, and yoghurt.
Related words
- Word family
- restrictive restriction restraint restrain
Forms
- Past participle
- restricted
e.g. restricted → limited, confined, restrained, circumscribed…
Choose the right word
To restrain an action is to hold it partially or wholly in check, so that it is under pressure even while it acts; to restrict an action is to fix a limit or boundary which it may not pass, but within which it is free.
J. C. Fernald, English Synonyms and Antonyms (1914)
Example sentences
- limit Brian intends to strictly limit the money he uses.
- restrain We tried to restrain him from his reckless action.
- confine Confine your remarks to the matter we are discussing.
Popularity over time
| Word | 1850 → 2019 | Trend |
|---|---|---|
| restrict | steady | |
| limit | steady | |
| restrain | falling | |
| confine | falling | |
| circumscribe | steady |
Use in printed books, per decade from 1850 to 2019.
By length
- 4 letters
- curb1, bind1
- 5 letters
- check1, limit2, bound1, cramp1
- 6 letters
- narrow2, coerce2
- 7 letters
- control2, contain2, qualify3, inhibit3, cripple2, curtail2, confine2, repress2, shackle2, abridge2
- 8 letters
- throttle2, restrain2
- 10 letters
- quarantine3
- 12 letters
- circumscribe3
The small number after each word is its number of syllables (limit2 = 2 syllables).
In other languages
- Français
- restreindre
- Deutsch
- einschränken
- Català
- restringir