inhibited

/ɪnˈhɪbɪdɪd/

/ɪnˈhɪbɪtɪd/

If something is inhibited it's held back or kept from doing something. An inhibited infection is kept from spreading, possibly by antibiotics.

We often use the word inhibited to describe someone’s behavior, especially if that person is self-conscious about doing something, but it also describes the simple fact of being restrained. If you washed your pants in hot water and they shrank and you could just barely squeeze them on, your movement would be inhibited. The Latin root of inhibited is inhibere, "to hold in or hold back."

Definitions of inhibited

1. adjective

   held back or restrained or prevented
   “in certain conditions previously inhibited conditioned reactions can reappear”

   synonyms:

   pent-up, repressed

   characterized by or showing the suppression of impulses or emotions

   smothered, stifled, strangled, suppressed

   held in check or kept back with difficulty

   reserved

   marked by self-restraint and reticence

   restrained

   under restraint

   antonyms:

   uninhibited

   not inhibited or restrained

   abandoned

   free from constraint

   earthy

   hearty and lusty

   unrepressed

   not repressed

   unsuppressed

   given vent to

   unreserved

   not cautious or reticent

   unrestrained

   not subject to restraint