strained
/stɹeɪ̯nd/adjective, verb
strained is spelled S-T-R-A-I-N-E-D: 8 letters and one syllable. It appears 3.4 times per million words in written English, the 14,307th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, strained means “Forced through a strainer” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in strained?
| Letters | 8: S-T-R-A-I-N-E-D |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 3.4 times per million words; the 14,307th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is strained?
Strained appears 3.4 times per million words in written English, the 14,307th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce strained?
- /stɹeɪ̯nd/
Strained has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-strained.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of strained
- more strained comparative
- most strained superlative
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does strained mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Forced through a strainer.
Babies don’t seem to like strained peas, even though the puree is easy for them to eat and digest.
- 2
Under tension; tense.
Ever since the fight our relationship has been strained.
- 3
Not natural or spontaneous but done with effort
A strained smile.
verb
- 1
simple past and past participle of strain
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Strained in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| Spanish | pasado por cedazo , tenso, tensado, tensionado |
| French | tendu |
| German | angespannt |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.