refrain
noun/rɪˈfreɪn/
/rɪˈfreɪn/
- a 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.
Extra Examples- I kept hearing the same refrain.
- Shoppers, so the refrain goes, are never happy until they have found a bargain.
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective- constant
- common
- familiar
- …
- sing
- take up
- echo
- …
- go
Want to learn more?
Find out which words work together and produce more natural sounding English with the Oxford Collocations Dictionary app.
- the part of a song or a poem that is repeated after each verse
- The choir's sopranos took up the refrain.
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective- constant
- common
- familiar
- …
- sing
- take up
- echo
- …
- go
Word Originnoun late Middle English: from Old French, from refraindre ‘break’, based on Latin refringere ‘break up’ (because the refrain “broke” the sequence).
Check pronunciation:
refrain