Act and Refrain

Act

Act verb - Perform an action, or work out or perform (an action).
Usage example: The governor should act on the new energy bill

Refrain is an antonym for act in topics: do something, entertain by playing a role, behave in a certain way.

Nearby Words: acting, acted

Refrain

Refrain verb - Resist doing something.
Usage example: He refrained from hitting him back

Act is an antonym for refrain.

Nearby Words: refrained, refraining

Common collocations

number act number refrain number
time act time refrain time
ways act ways refrain ways

Both words in one sentence

  • The Ancients did refrain from using it because of moral objections, and decided to flee instead; given the trouble caused by the continued existence of the Ori, this was a seriously neglectful act.
  • Opera In Carmen the refrain of the Toreador's Song appears in the first three minutes of the overture and appears in every act thereafter.
    Source: Opera
  • In Puccini's one-act opera Il Tabarro, the refrain to the balladeer's song of Mimi includes an instrumental quote of "Mi chiamano Mimì" from La Bohème.
Cite this Source
Refrain and Act. (2016). Retrieved 2026, July 21, from https://thesaurus.plus/related/act/refrain
Act & Refrain. N.p., 2016. Web. 21 Jul. 2026. <https://thesaurus.plus/related/act/refrain>.
Refrain or Act. 2016. Accessed July 21, 2026. https://thesaurus.plus/related/act/refrain.
Google Ngram Viewer shows how "act" and "refrain" have occurred on timeline