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

Synonyms & Similar Words

Synonym Chooser

How is the word circumscribe different from other verbs like it?

Some common synonyms of circumscribe are confine, limit, and restrict. While all these words mean "to set bounds for," circumscribe stresses a restriction on all sides and by clearly defined boundaries.

the work of the investigating committee was carefully circumscribed

When can confine be used instead of circumscribe?

Although the words confine and circumscribe have much in common, confine suggests severe restraint and a resulting cramping, fettering, or hampering.

our choices were confined by finances

When is limit a more appropriate choice than circumscribe?

While in some cases nearly identical to circumscribe, limit implies setting a point or line (as in time, space, speed, or degree) beyond which something cannot or is not permitted to go.

visits are limited to 30 minutes

When might restrict be a better fit than circumscribe?

The words restrict and circumscribe can be used in similar contexts, but restrict suggests a narrowing or tightening or restraining within or as if within an encircling boundary.

laws intended to restrict the freedom of the press

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 circumscribe The marketplace of ideas becomes skewed; the choices of buyers in that marketplace are circumscribed. James L. Gibson, The Conversation, 26 June 2025 Analysts predicted all sorts of potential Iranian retaliatory measures of various sizes and scales, but Iran ultimately opted for an intense but circumscribed missile attack on the Al-Asad Airbase in Iraq, resulting in no fatalities but more than 100 U.S. personnel with traumatic brain injuries. Uri Friedman, The Atlantic, 23 June 2025 Yet this project’s geography is circumscribed, its borders hedged. Daniel Felsenthal, Los Angeles Times, 9 June 2025 Yet these men’s behavior was tightly circumscribed, at least in appearance. Adam Gopnik, The New Yorker, 24 Feb. 2025 See All Example Sentences for circumscribe
Recent Examples of Synonyms for circumscribe
Verb
  • An effective hair growth solution is less about fancy marketing claims, but formulas rooted in ingredients that can improve hair’s density and fullness while limiting breakage.
    Kiana Murden, Vogue, 12 Sep. 2025
  • The advisory also warned that emergency services in Nepal have limited ability to respond to personal emergencies at the moment.
    Alia Shoaib, MSNBC Newsweek, 12 Sep. 2025
Verb
  • Among them were countless era-defining releases that are still among the best movies ever made—of any genre—from the haunting Rebecca to the gripping Rear Window, and the ravishing Vertigo to the hair-raising Psycho.
    Radhika Seth, Vogue, 13 Sep. 2025
  • Internally, the current workspace contained not only the visible text documents but also any custom words the user added to the dictionary and any additional tForth words defined in memory.
    Cameron Kaiser, ArsTechnica, 12 Sep. 2025
Verb
  • Pyongyang has continued to exercise significant control over the population and severely restrict the rights and freedoms of its population, and that has only gotten more intense over the last decade.
    Mike Brest, The Washington Examiner, 12 Sep. 2025
  • While the new members could vote to further restrict access to any of those safe, lifesaving vaccines, most of the focus has been on COVID-19 vaccine access.
    Beth Mole, ArsTechnica, 12 Sep. 2025
Verb
  • In November and December, the above normal fire risk is mainly confined to southern California.
    Doyle Rice, USA Today, 14 Sep. 2025
  • These materials will be used to build the powerful magnets that form a magnetic cage to confine plasma heated to temperatures exceeding 150 million degrees Celsius (302 million degrees Fahrenheit).
    Aman Tripathi, Interesting Engineering, 12 Sep. 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Circumscribe.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/circumscribe. Accessed 14 Sep. 2025.

More from Merriam-Webster on circumscribe

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