| docile, | manageable, | passive, | quiet, | tractable, |
| gentle, | obedient, | peaceable, | submissive, | yielding. |
RESTRAIN.
Synonyms:
| abridge, | constrain, | hold in, | keep under, |
| bridle, | curb, | keep, | repress, |
| check, | hinder, | keep back, | restrict, |
| circumscribe, | hold, | keep down, | suppress, |
| confine, | hold back, | keep in, | withhold. |
To restrain is to hold back from acting, proceeding, or advancing, either by physical or moral force. Constrain is positive; restrain is negative; one is constrained to an action; he is restrained from an action. Constrain refers almost exclusively to moral force, restrain frequently to physical force, as when we speak of putting one under restraint. 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. To repress, literally to press back, is to hold in check, and perhaps only temporarily, that which is still very active; it is a feebler word than restrain; to suppress is finally and effectually to put down; suppress is a much stronger word than restrain; as, to suppress a rebellion. Compare [ARREST]; [BIND]; [KEEP].
Antonyms:
| aid, | arouse, | encourage, | free, | incite, | release, |
| animate, | emancipate, | excite, | impel, | let loose, | set free. |
RETIREMENT.