HELD (BACK) Synonyms: 107 Similar and Opposite Words

held back

verb

past tense of hold back

as in hampered

to create difficulty for the work or activity of the only thing holding them back from joining the swim team is lack of transportation

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as in stifled

to refrain from openly showing or uttering held back her tears until she was alone

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Example Sentences

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Recent Examples of held back Conversely, the electric guitar is held back by the lack of stereo separation, as is the fiddle in turn. —

Mark Knapp, PC Magazine, 1 Apr. 2026 According to the federal indictment, the state agency had already held back more than $122,000 from this contractual agreement. —

Dac Collins, Outdoor Life, 1 Apr. 2026 The series, starring Morris Chestnut, was initially held back for another midseason run on Sundays before being summoned to the fall schedule to fill in for the delayed CIA, landing behind FBI on Mondays. —

Nellie Andreeva, Deadline, 27 Mar. 2026 The airline’s efforts to revive services have been held back by the closure of Qatar’s airspace, alongside the company’s heavier dependence on long-haul corridors that remain constrained. —

Glenn Taylor, Sourcing Journal, 25 Mar. 2026 Both global and European population ebbed and flowed from generation to generation, but fundamentally remained static across centuries, held back by truly ferocious rates of infant, childhood, and maternal mortality. —

Literary Hub, 25 Mar. 2026 Consumer sentiment has been generally poor, held back primarily by those at the lower end of the income spectrum who are hit particularly hard by higher prices. —

Jeff Cox, CNBC, 25 Mar. 2026 Two-thirds of children who were held back had summer birthdays between June and August — near the kindergarten enrollment cutoff dates in most states — and would have been young for their grade. —

Kate Sequeira, Los Angeles Times, 24 Mar. 2026 The tide, however, has turned around since 2024 after former ECB President Mario Draghi’s report for the European Commission, which argued that Europe’s economy is being held back by outdated competition rules. —

Tiisetso Motsoeneng, semafor.com, 20 Mar. 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for held back

Verb

Vertical living green walls comprised of live plants are a natural energy-saving method for improving indoor air quality and enhancing interior design, but they're hampered by inconsistent performance.

— Shirl Leigh April 03, New Atlas, 3 Apr. 2026
Even if companies wanted to spend irresponsible amounts of money on AI compute, they’ve been hampered by supply chain constraints.

— Reed Albergotti, semafor.com, 1 Apr. 2026