He made a strained attempt at being polite. I took the complaint manager's strained smile to mean I wasn't a welcome sight.
Recent Examples on the WebThey were invited last minute by William in what was seemingly a show of solidarity after several years of a strained family relationship. Aimée Lutkin, ELLE, 11 Sep. 2022 Later, Rama and her partner Adrien (Thomas De Pourquery) visit her family for a dinner at which Rama’s strained relationship with her mother is evident. Jessica Kiang, Variety, 7 Sep. 2022 Meghan reflected on her relationship with her father, Thomas Markle, and Prince Harry's strained relationship with Prince Charles. Simon Perry, Peoplemag, 6 Sep. 2022 The singer’s comments arrive in the wake of an interview her 15-year-old son Jayden gave to the Daily Mail about their strained relationship. Mitchell Peters, Billboard, 3 Sep. 2022 Another element in the play is the strained relationship with his criminal son. Annie Alleman, Chicago Tribune, 31 Aug. 2022 The emerging disaster has drawn attention to the strained relationship between the city's Democratic leadership and the Republican governor and legislature. Isabella Murray, ABC News, 31 Aug. 2022 The court papers also gave more insight to Depp’s strained relationship with Disney even before the studio dropped him from Pirates of the Caribbean 6 in 2018. Cheyenne Roundtree, Rolling Stone, 6 Aug. 2022 Joe’s guilt-tripping, passive-aggressive but loving mother and his strained relationship with his son are things many of us can relate to. Joey Morona, cleveland, 5 Aug. 2022 See More
1worried and tense擔心;緊張VERBS | ADVERBVERBS➤be, feel, look, seem, sound緊張;感到緊張;看起來緊張;好像緊張;聽起來緊張ADVERB➤extremely, fairly, very, etc.極其/相當/非常緊張◇She looked rather strained and miserable.她看起來很是緊張和可憐。➤a little, slightly, etc.有點兒/稍有些緊張strained
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2not natural or friendly不自然;不友好VERBS | ADVERBVERBS➤be裝腔作勢;不友好▸➤become, grow變得緊張▸➤remain一直緊張◇The atmosphere remained somewhat strained all evening.整個晚上氣氛一直有點兒緊張。ADVERB➤extremely, fairly, very, etc.極其/相當/非常緊張◇Relations between us were rather strained.我們之間的關係非常緊張。➤severely極其緊張◇Relations between the two countries had become severely strained.兩國關係已經變得非常緊張。➤increasingly越來越緊張▸➤a little, slightly, etc.有點兒/稍有些不自然➤already已經比較緊張◇Their already strained relationship was made worse by this incident.這次事件使他們本來已經非常緊張的關係更加惡化。