Definition
A constraint is a limit you must work within — from the Latin constringere, 'to bind tightly'. Budgets, deadlines, laws, and the laws of physics are all constraints: they fence off some options and force a choice among the rest. The word is neutral, even useful — designers speak of creative constraints that focus the imagination. But a constraint always exists to impede free movement in some direction, binding action the way walls bind a room; lift it, and what it served to suppress springs loose.
Examples
- Tight budget constraints forced the team to cut the project in half.
- Working within the constraints of the sonnet, the poet still found room to surprise.
- Time was the binding constraint, and every plan had to respect it.
Collocations
budget constraints·time constraints·within the constraints of·impose a constraint
Synonyms
restriction·limitation·restraint·curb·limit
Antonyms
freedom·latitude·leeway
Word family
constrain (verb)·constrained (adjective)
In TOEFL & IELTS
Indispensable for IELTS Writing Task 2 and TOEFL integrated tasks about limits — 'financial/time/resource constraints' are ready-made collocations. The verb 'constrain' and adjective 'constrained' ('a constrained budget') are common too. In academic English, 'within the constraints of' is a precise way to acknowledge limits before proposing a solution. The plural 'constraints' is often what appears.