- 1a comment or complaint that is often repeated Complaints about poor food in schools have become a familiar refrain. The protest began with a small group, but then the others took up the refrain. Oxford Collocations Dictionary adjectiveconstant, common, familiar, … verb + refrainsing, take up, echo, … refrain + verbgo See full entry
- 2the part of a song or a poem that is repeated after each verse synonym chorus Wordfinderpoetrycouplet, image, lyric, poetry, recite, refrain, rhyme, scansion, stanza, verse Oxford Collocations Dictionary adjectiveconstant, common, familiar, … verb + refrainsing, take up, echo, … refrain + verbgo See full entry Word Originnoun late Middle English: from Old French, from refraindre ‘break’, based on Latin refringere ‘break up’ (because the refrain “broke” the sequence).Extra examples Complaints about school food have become a familiar refrain. I kept hearing the same refrain. Shoppers, so the refrain goes, are never happy until they have found a bargain. The choir’s sopranos took up the refrain.
Check pronunciation: refrain
