ห้ามใจ

Explanation

The word combines ห้าม, “to forbid or stop,” with ใจ, “heart or mind.” Its literal image is therefore stopping your own heart or mind from following an urge. It can refer to resisting the desire to eat, buy, say, or do something, as well as controlling emotions such as romantic attraction. These uses share the same basic idea of self-restraint. It commonly appears as ห้ามใจไม่ได้, “cannot control oneself,” or ห้ามใจไม่ไหว, “cannot resist.” The pattern ห้ามใจไม่ให้ + verb means to keep oneself from doing something.

Usage

It is used when resisting sweets during a diet, avoiding an impulse purchase, or stopping yourself from saying or doing something. It is also common when talking about romantic feelings that a person believes they should not have. The word occurs naturally in everyday conversation and is especially common in love songs and stories.

Caution

This verb normally refers to controlling your own urges or feelings. To prohibit another person from doing something, use ห้าม + person + verb. To stop an action or movement itself, หยุด is usually more appropriate.

1 restrain oneself synonyms

• ข่มใจ

  khòm cay restrain oneself

  ข่มใจ suggests forcibly suppressing a difficult feeling, such as anger or distress. ห้ามใจ is broader and can describe resisting appetite, an impulse to buy something, romantic feelings, and other urges.

• ยับยั้งใจ

  ยับยั้งใจ is a somewhat more formal way to say “exercise restraint” or “refrain.” ห้ามใจ sounds natural in everyday speech and is often used for personal urges and romantic feelings.

• อดใจ

  òt cay restrain oneself

  อดใจ often means resisting something desirable and is common in expressions such as อดใจรอไม่ไหว, “can't wait.” ห้ามใจ focuses more directly on stopping an urge or emotion from leading to action.