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adjective

constrained

CEFR C2

held back or limited by rules, resources, or circumstances

In a sentence

Six example sentences with constrained, each labelled with its topic.

  • Constrained by a single roll of film, she took only twelve frames all day and chose each one slowly.

    Photography

  • The director felt constrained by a tiny budget, so the whole thriller takes place inside one rented apartment.

    Movies

  • Participants constrained to a two-minute limit made faster choices but reported far more regret afterward than the untimed group.

    Psychology

  • Constrained by three months of cash, the team dropped every feature that did not directly bring in a paying customer.

    Startups

  • Constrained by the salary cap, the general manager let two starters walk and filled the bench with rookies.

    Basketball

  • Constrained to whatever the pantry held, the chef built the whole dinner around a bag of lentils and two lemons.

    Cooking

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Found in these word lists

Found in 2 published word listsAuthoritative

Each source is a published word list that contains constrained. No exam board publishes an official GRE, GMAT or SAT list; GMAT words come from GRE lists and the Academic Word List.

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