stricture
noun
Did you know?
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
The Editors, National Review, 9 Jan. 2025
Ellen is a more passive counterpart to Thomasin, the teenage heroine played by fellow big-eyed blonde Anya Taylor-Joy in The Witch, in that she’s also been pathologized by the strictures of her era, her psychic sensitivities interpreted by those around her as signs of hysteria or mental illness.
—Alison Willmore, Vulture, 23 Dec. 2024
Iran’s isolation was partly the doing of its own government, which banned foreign cultural products that violated its religious and political strictures—meaning most of them.
—Arash Azizi, The Atlantic, 20 Nov. 2024
If left untreated, the buildup of scar tissue causes the bowel walls to become very thick and narrowed (called an intestinal stricture), per the CDC.
—Caroline C. Boyle, USA TODAY, 2 Dec. 2024
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Cite this Entry
“Stricture.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/stricture. Accessed 18 Jan. 2025.
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stricture
noun
Medical Definition
stricture
noun
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