Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • adjective Not given expression; repressed.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adjective not expressed
  • adjective repressed or suppressed, especially of emotions or impulses

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • adjective characterized by or showing the suppression of impulses or emotions

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

pent +‎ up

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Examples

  • Orders taken by dealers over the summer and what Mendel called "pent-up demand" should give the troubled automaker a sizeable boost throughout the fourth quarter, he said.

    unknown title 2011

  • It was as if we took the intellectual heritage of Franklin Roosevelt, the moral inspiration of John Kennedy, and a decade of pent-up demand for social change and converted them into a social reality.

    The Good Fight Walter F. Mondale 2010

  • It was as if we took the intellectual heritage of Franklin Roosevelt, the moral inspiration of John Kennedy, and a decade of pent-up demand for social change and converted them into a social reality.

    The Good Fight Walter F. Mondale 2010

  • It was as if we took the intellectual heritage of Franklin Roosevelt, the moral inspiration of John Kennedy, and a decade of pent-up demand for social change and converted them into a social reality.

    The Good Fight Walter F. Mondale 2010

  • Simon Patten, one of the most influential economists of the early twentieth century, argued for an increase in the material wealth of ordinary Americans, but only so that they would not seek solace from their poverty by succumbing to “debasing appeals to pent-up passions.”

    A Renegade History of the United States Thaddeus Russell 2010

  • After years of living as beleaguered dissidents, Maher and his fellow organizers were suddenly swamped by an outpouring of pent-up emotion.

    An Egyptian revolutionary seeks Obama's support 2011

  • The dainty flourishes of the wrist and the slowly spreading smile suggest carefully withheld, pent-up force.

    Richard III; Lullaby; Hundreds & Thousands – review 2011

  • How'd He Die: After years of pent-up rage, Benjamin Linus murdered his father with a gas canister moments before the other DHARMA workers were mass-murdered.

    LOST IN NUMBERS: Twenty-Three Dead Characters That Should Return For The Final Season Of ‘Lost’ » MTV Movies Blog 2010

  • Mounds of pent-up angst and haunted history disappeared in one sweet outpouring of defiance as the Cardinals earned the franchise's first home playoff win since 1947 when they called Chicago home.

    Indignant Cards deck Falcons, prove they deserved a spot 2009

  • Ironically, in contrast to the pent-up middle class women, Amelia saw the poor farm women as freer.

    Terry Kelhawk: Skirts on Camels: Early Women Travel Writers Terry Kelhawk 2010

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