Search Result for "strained": 
Wordnet 3.0

ADJECTIVE (4)

1. lacking natural ease;
- Example: "a labored style of debating"
[syn: labored, laboured, strained]

2. showing signs of mental and emotional tension;
- Example: "her voice was strained as she asked the question"

3. lacking spontaneity; not natural;
- Example: "a constrained smile"
- Example: "forced heartiness"
- Example: "a strained smile"
[syn: constrained, forced, strained]

4. struggling for effect;
- Example: "agonistic poses"
[syn: agonistic, strained]


The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Strain \Strain\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Strained; p. pr. & vb. n. Straining.] [OF. estraindre, estreindre, F. ['e]treindre, L. stringere to draw or bind tight; probably akin to Gr. ? a halter, ? that which is squeezwd out, a drop, or perhaps to E. strike. Cf. Strangle, Strike, Constrain, District, Strait, a. Stress, Strict, Stringent.] 1. To draw with force; to extend with great effort; to stretch; as, to strain a rope; to strain the shrouds of a ship; to strain the cords of a musical instrument. "To strain his fetters with a stricter care." --Dryden. [1913 Webster] 2. (Mech.) To act upon, in any way, so as to cause change of form or volume, as forces on a beam to bend it. [1913 Webster] 3. To exert to the utmost; to ply vigorously. [1913 Webster] He sweats, Strains his young nerves. --Shak. [1913 Webster] They strain their warbling throats To welcome in the spring. --Dryden. [1913 Webster] 4. To stretch beyond its proper limit; to do violence to, in the matter of intent or meaning; as, to strain the law in order to convict an accused person. [1913 Webster] There can be no other meaning in this expression, however some may pretend to strain it. --Swift. [1913 Webster] 5. To injure by drawing, stretching, or the exertion of force; as, the gale strained the timbers of the ship. [1913 Webster] 6. To injure in the muscles or joints by causing to make too strong an effort; to harm by overexertion; to sprain; as, to strain a horse by overloading; to strain the wrist; to strain a muscle. [1913 Webster] Prudes decayed about may track, Strain their necks with looking back. --Swift. [1913 Webster] 7. To squeeze; to press closely. [1913 Webster] Evander with a close embrace Strained his departing friend. --Dryden. [1913 Webster] 8. To make uneasy or unnatural; to produce with apparent effort; to force; to constrain. [1913 Webster] He talks and plays with Fatima, but his mirth Is forced and strained. --Denham. [1913 Webster] The quality of mercy is not strained. --Shak. [1913 Webster] 9. To urge with importunity; to press; as, to strain a petition or invitation. [1913 Webster] Note, if your lady strain his entertainment. --Shak. [1913 Webster] 10. To press, or cause to pass, through a strainer, as through a screen, a cloth, or some porous substance; to purify, or separate from extraneous or solid matter, by filtration; to filter; as, to strain milk through cloth. [1913 Webster] To strain a point, to make a special effort; especially, to do a degree of violence to some principle or to one's own feelings. To strain courtesy, to go beyond what courtesy requires; to insist somewhat too much upon the precedence of others; -- often used ironically. --Shak. [1913 Webster]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Strained \Strained\, a. 1. Subjected to great or excessive tension; wrenched; weakened; as, strained relations between old friends. [1913 Webster] 2. Done or produced with straining or excessive effort; as, his wit was strained. [1913 Webster]
WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):

strained adj 1: lacking natural ease; "a labored style of debating" [syn: labored, laboured, strained] 2: showing signs of mental and emotional tension; "her voice was strained as she asked the question" 3: lacking spontaneity; not natural; "a constrained smile"; "forced heartiness"; "a strained smile" [syn: constrained, forced, strained] 4: struggling for effect; "agonistic poses" [syn: agonistic, strained]
Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0:

115 Moby Thesaurus words for "strained": Herculean, agitated, all-overish, anxious, anxioused up, apprehensive, arduous, artificial, awkward, backbreaking, biased, bothered, burdensome, chill, chilly, cold, concerned, cooked, cool, crushing, difficult, disaccordant, disquieted, distant, disturbed, doctored, dragged out, drawn, drawn out, effortful, elongated, extended, farfetched, fearful, forced, foreboding, frosty, garbled, grueling, hard-earned, hard-fought, heavy, hefty, icy, improbable, in a pucker, in a stew, incompatible, inhospitable, inimical, insincere, killing, labored, laborious, lengthened, misgiving, misquoted, misrepresented, nervous, on tenterhooks, onerous, operose, oppressive, out-of-the-way, overanxious, overapprehensive, painful, perturbed, perverted, prolongated, prolonged, protracted, pulled, punishing, put-on, quite another thing, remote, self-conscious, slanted, solicitous, something else again, spun out, stiff, straggling, strenuous, stretched, stretched out, stretched tight, strung out, suspenseful, taut, tense, tight, toilsome, tortured, tough, troubled, troublesome, twisted, unamiable, unamicable, uncomfortable, uncordial, under a strain, uneasy, unfriendly, ungenial, unharmonious, unnatural, unrelaxed, unsociable, uphill, uptight, wearisome, zealous