to bridle enthusiasm

7.4

Hold back your excitement so you do not seem too eager

idiom

: controlar el entusiasmo

She realized she must bridle enthusiasm to appear more professional in meetings.

Examples

You should bridle enthusiasm when giving constructive feedback to avoid overwhelming your team.
During the negotiations, he tried to bridle enthusiasm and remain objective.
Don't bridle your enthusiasm too much!
I had to bridle my enthusiasm during the meeting.
In the meeting, she needed to bridle enthusiasm to keep the discussion focused.
He decided to bridle enthusiasm when presenting his ideas to ensure they were taken seriously.
To maintain professionalism, it is important to bridle enthusiasm during formal discussions.

Synonyms

to squash enthusiasm

vsto bridle enthusiasm

6.5

To stop someone from feeling excited

controls one's own excitement instead of forcefully removing it for others

to hide someone's excitement

vsto bridle enthusiasm

5.0

To try not to show that you are very happy in front of other people

controls internal eagerness rather than only concealing it

Antonyms

to enthuse

4 6.5

To talk about something in an excited way

How Restrained

to stifle

49 5.3

to bridle enthusiasm

7.4

to enthuse

4 6.5

Surface Forms

bridle enthusiasm infinitive

bridled enthusiasm past

bridled enthusiasm past participle

bridling enthusiasm present participle

bridles enthusiasm third person singular

Morphology

bridle + enthusiasm

The meaning is directly compositional: 'bridle' means to restrain or curb and 'enthusiasm' means excitement, so together the phrase literally means to restrain excitement. This follows a regular verb + object pattern and is likely inferable by a B1 learner who knows both constituent words.

Etymology

Bridle enthusiasm comes from horse riding: a bridle is a set of straps put on a horse's head and in its mouth so a rider can control the animal. That's why to bridle your enthusiasm means 'to restrain or control excitement'.