strained

adjective

ˈstrānd 

1

: done or produced with excessive effort

2

: pushed by antagonism near to open conflict

strained relations

Synonyms

• affected
• artificial
• assumed
• bogus
• contrived
• factitious
• fake
• false
• feigned
• forced
• mechanical
• mock
• phony
• phoney
• plastic
• pretended
• pseudo
• put-on
• sham
• simulated
• spurious
• unnatural

Examples of strained in a Sentence

He made a strained attempt at being polite.

I took the complaint manager's strained smile to mean I wasn't a welcome sight.

Recent Examples on the Web

Leighton Meester and Luke Cook star as sibling detectives who don’t always see eye-to-eye, working together to solve crimes – and the strained relationship with their police chief father (Clancy Brown). —Denise Petski, Deadline, 20 Nov. 2024

In the memoir, which came out on Nov. 19, White provided some insight about the strained relationship. —Regina Cho, VIBE.com, 20 Nov. 2024

The lifelong New Yorker explained his decision to pack up for Florida in a 2019 post on the social platform X, citing taxes and his strained relationships with state and local leaders. —Elizabeth Crisp, The Hill, 5 Nov. 2024

In addition, there will need to be some serious operational improvements to remedy the company’s strained relationship with many current and former customers. —Kenneth Squire, CNBC, 2 Nov. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

circa 1542, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

strained

adjective

ˈstrānd 

1

: not easy or natural : forced

a strained smile

2

: brought close to war

strained relations between countries