CIRCUMSCRIBED Synonyms: 130 Similar and Opposite Words

circumscribed 1 of 2

adjective

as in limited

having distinct or certain limits the powers of that state's governor are so sharply circumscribed that often his hands are tied by the state legislature

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

circumscribed

2 of 2

verb

past tense of circumscribe

as in restricted

to set bounds or an upper limit for circumscribed his enthusiasm so as not to make the losing side feel worse

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

as in defined

to mark the limits of Lake Michigan circumscribes the city of Chicago on the east

Synonyms & Similar Words

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of circumscribed

Adjective

The authors of the study estimated that their circumscribed findings extrapolated countywide could represent up to $114 million in losses over a month of sustained enforcement. — Brittny Mejia, Los Angeles Times, 22 July 2026 Signs will redirect cyclists around the circumscribed area, requiring them in some cases to take winding alternative routes. — Rachel Swan, San Francisco Chronicle, 6 Feb. 2026 Yes, their lives have become this circumscribed. — Lisa Kennedy, Variety, 31 Jan. 2026 Thompson-Hernández acknowledges that while Watts might be a small community, a relative sliver of greater Los Angeles, imagination flourishes in the most circumscribed places. — Vikram Murthi, IndieWire, 29 Jan. 2026 Joan understands that their circumscribed lives now give their eternity its meaning. — Jp Mangalindan, Time, 26 Nov. 2025 In reality, as for most visiting celebrities, her itinerary was narrowly circumscribed. — Zak Cheney-Rice, Vulture, 6 Nov. 2025 While Swift’s life is extraordinary, it’s also cloistered by wealth and celebrity; perhaps the range of feelings she’s allowed to experience has become circumscribed. — Amanda Petrusich, New Yorker, 3 Oct. 2025 Barrett understood its more circumscribed project. — Stefan Fatsis, The Atlantic, 13 Sep. 2025

Verb

In the course of the film, Hargitay reevaluates her mom, forming a fuller picture of how Mansfield’s career choices were circumscribed by the egregious sexism of the 1950s and ‘60s. — Matthew Carey, Deadline, 17 Aug. 2026 Representatives from hostile states like Russia, China, Iran, and North Korea are circumscribed in their movements, typically limited to a small radius around their official posts—an embassy, a consulate, a permanent mission to the UN. — Adam Ciralsky, Vanity Fair, 19 Mar. 2026 Eventually, the area in the Pentagon where reporters were allowed was circumscribed to a single corridor outside the press room – even though the public affairs officers who worked most closely with reporters were in an office on the other side of the 6½-million-square-foot building. — Kathy Kiely, The Conversation, 17 Mar. 2026 Under the Constitution, the concept of a militia is a specific and narrowly circumscribed one. — Larry Pino, The Orlando Sentinel, 1 Feb. 2026 But the apartheid regime became a police state that heavily circumscribed its white citizens’ lives, too. — Eve Fairbanks, The Dial, 27 Jan. 2026 No matter their financial situation, these characters are circumscribed by their situations (class, responsibilities, families) and desire more—or something else entirely. — Diana Arterian, Literary Hub, 15 Jan. 2026 Their sovereign capacity to realign is circumscribed by the very architectures that protect them. — Pratap Bhanu Mehta, Time, 15 Jan. 2026 Only one major financial institution is currently investing in a presence downtown, defined as the area circumscribed by I-35, I-30, I-45 and Woodall Rogers Freeway. — Sasha Richie, Dallas Morning News, 9 Jan. 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for circumscribed

Adjective

Since 2007, Japan has begun disclosing the names of those executed and some details of their crimes, but disclosures are still limited.

— CBS News, CBS News, 21 Aug. 2026
And without the identity of the victim, investigators are extremely limited in their ability to solve the crime.

— Elizabeth Wolfe, CNN Money, 21 Aug. 2026

Definition of limited

Verb

Additionally, in 2016, the US and Egypt entered into a cultural property agreement that restricted the US import of certain relevant material from Egypt.

— News Desk, Artforum, 24 Aug. 2026
Carney said Washington introduced language in the final hours of negotiations that would have restricted Canada’s ability to make trade deals with other countries.

— Rob Gillies, Chicago Tribune, 23 Aug. 2026

Definition of restricted

Verb

And increasingly, the biggest EV factory may no longer be defined simply by the number of cars rolling off a single assembly line, but by the size of the entire industrial ecosystem built around them.

— Kaif Shaikh, Interesting Engineering, 23 Aug. 2026
After all those years, the curse had finally been broken, and a franchise once defined by failure suddenly became one of baseball’s great modern success stories.

— Emile Nuh, CNN Money, 23 Aug. 2026

Definition of defined

Adjective

Yet Burkeman reaches a surprising conclusion, observing instead that life is finite, plans fail, and few endeavors are ever truly complete.

— Joshua Rothman, New Yorker, 14 Aug. 2026
The political appetite for accepting the deindustrialization and critical dependencies that come with the flood of Chinese imports is finite and shrinking.

— Michael B. G. Froman, Foreign Affairs, 13 Aug. 2026

Definition of finite

Verb

Congestion is at record levels and, since the pandemic, it’s no longer confined to the morning and evening rush hours.

— Sara "Kraut" Gregory, AJC.com, 20 Aug. 2026
From 1908 until his death in 1947, he was largely confined to the property’s main home under specialized psychiatric care, while Katherine lived elsewhere, diligently funding research to find a cure.

— Wendy Bowman, Robb Report, 20 Aug. 2026

Definition of confined

Verb

How Leaders Should Prepare The organizations that get this right will be the ones that deploy agents where the work is bounded, the data is clean and the accountability is clear.

— Tammy Hawes, Forbes.com, 17 Aug. 2026
Today’s official Little Italy is bounded between 48th, 59th, and J streets, and Folsom Boulevard, and many Italian-Americans still live and own businesses in the area, said Italian Cultural Society member Steve Maviglio.

— Anne Ewbank, Sacbee.com, 10 Aug. 2026

Definition of bounded

Adjective

Built in 1884 to serve the area’s booming silver mines, the narrow-gauge railroad climbs nearly 600 feet in just two miles, crossing the famous Devil’s Gate High Bridge before reaching the historic mining town of Silver Plume.

— Jocelyn Rowley, Denver Post, 25 Aug. 2026
Those gains in a high-turnout presidential year, combined with the very narrow final margin — after a recount — made the decision simple for Bohannan to sign up a third time.

— ABC News, ABC News, 24 Aug. 2026

Definition of narrow

Browse Nearby Words

circumscribe

circumscribed

circumscribes

See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

Style

“Circumscribed.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/circumscribed. Accessed 26 Aug. 2026.

Copy Citation

Synonyms of circumscribed

adjective

verb

Example Sentences

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

devolve

Popular in Grammar & Usage

A Who’s Who Regarding ‘Who’s’ and ‘Whose’

Is that lie 'bald-faced' or 'bold-faced'?

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?

Commonly Misspelled Words

Popular in Wordplay

Ye Olde Nincompoop: Old-Fashioned Words for 'Stupid'

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

Even More Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

16 Glee-ridden Words from Schitt's Creek

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World

Popular

A Who’s Who Regarding ‘Who’s’ and ‘Whose’

Ye Olde Nincompoop: Old-Fashioned Words for 'Stupid'

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

Games & Quizzes