Refrain
noun, verb ·Common ·High school level
Definitions
- 1 The chorus or burden of a song repeated at the end of each verse or stanza.
"For perhaps as much as thirty seconds they kept it up. It was a refrain that was often heard in moments of overwhelming emotion. Partly it was a sort of hymn to the wisdom and majesty of Big Brother, but still more it was an act of self-hypnosis, a deliberate drowning of consciousness by means of rhythmic noise."
- 2 the part of a song where a soloist is joined by a group of singers wordnet
- 3 A much repeated comment, complaint, or saying. broadly
- 1 To hold back, to restrain (someone or something). archaic, transitive
"Refrain thy foot from their path."
- 2 choose not to consume wordnet
- 3 To show restraint; to hold oneself back. archaic, reflexive
"And nowe I saye unto you: refrayne youreselves from these men, and let them alone [...]."
- 4 resist doing something wordnet
- 5 To repress (a desire, emotion etc.); to check or curb. archaic, transitive
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- 6 To stop oneself from some action or interference; to abstain; to eschew intransitive
"Refrain from these men, and let them alone."
- 7 To abstain from (food or drink). rare, regional, transitive
"Who, requiring a remedy for his gout, received no other counsel than to refrain cold drink."
Antonyms
All antonymsExample
More examples"Please refrain from smoking, while the non-smoking signs are on."
Etymology
From Middle English refreynen, from Anglo-Norman refrener, Old French refrener (from Latin refrenare), and influenced by Old French refraindre (from Latin refringere).
From French refrain, from the Old French verb refraindre (“to break off, repeat”), from Latin re- (“back, again”) + frangō (“break”); compare Occitan refranhs (“a refrain”), refranher (“to repeat”). See refract and the verb refrain.
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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.