stricture
noun
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Stricture has meant many things through the centuries, and its "restriction" meaning—probably the most common one today—is actually the most recent. High-school teachers often put strictures on texting during class. Cities concerned about their murder rate have slapped strictures on the possession of handguns. And the United Nations may vote to put strictures on arms sales to a country that keeps violating international treaties. With the meaning "strong criticism", stricture is slightly old-fashioned today, but it's still used by intellectuals. So, for example, an article may amount to a harsh stricture on the whole medical profession, or an art review may just express the critic's strictures on sentimental paintings of cute little houses with glowing windows.
Synonyms
Examples of stricture in a Sentence
Lindsay Curtis, Health, 6 Feb. 2025
The plain, pensive framings are shot through with vectors of power both official and unofficial: pandemic regulations and the administrative tangles around real estate impose one kind of stricture; tradition and ingrained mores provide another.
—Richard Brody, The New Yorker, 29 Jan. 2025
The new stricture applies to messages to email groups and to social media posts, and included a ban on announcements to The Federal Register, without which many official processes cannot continue.
—Teddy Rosenbluth, New York Times, 23 Jan. 2025
No longer confined by the strictures of consistency and predictability, the riders will have the chance to try the wildest tricks their minds can conceive.
—Jenn Nelson, Forbes, 23 Jan. 2025
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Cite this Entry
“Stricture.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/stricture. Accessed 11 Feb. 2025.
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stricture
noun
Medical Definition
stricture
noun
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