self-restraint.

Voluntary control of an impulse, expression, or action.

Use it for

Words that belong together

• exercise self-restraint
• admirable self-restraint

On the page

She exercised self-restraint and left the accusation unanswered.

Usage notes

Primary category: psychology / human behavior. Forms: Usually uncountable; no ordinary plural in this sense. Legacy lexical fields mirror sense 1 only. Use numbered sense fields for all meanings. Established modern English lexical item. No separate regional spelling or grammatical inflection entry. Writing functions: character, interpretation. Commonness: moderately common.