Strained

a.	1.	Subjected to great or excessive tension; wrenched; weakened; as, strained relations between old friends.
	2.	Done or produced with straining or excessive effort; as, his wit was strained.

Adj.	1.	strained - lacking natural ease; "a labored style of debating" Synonyms: labored, laboured
	2.	strained - under great stress; "her voice was strained as she asked the question"
	3.	strained - lacking spontaneity; not natural; "a constrained smile"; "forced heartiness"; "a strained smile" Synonyms: constrained, forced
	4.	strained - struggling for effect; "agonistic poses" Synonyms: agonistic

Herculean, agitated, all-overish, anxious, anxioused up, apprehensive, arduous, artificial, awkward, backbreaking, biased, bothered, burdensome, chill, chilly, cold, concerned, cooked, cool, crushing, difficult, disaccordant, disquieted, distant, disturbed, doctored, dragged out, drawn, drawn out, effortful, elongated, extended, farfetched, fearful, forced, foreboding, frosty, garbled, grueling, hard-earned, hard-fought, heavy, hefty, icy, improbable, in a pucker, in a stew, incompatible, inhospitable, inimical, insincere, killing, labored, laborious, lengthened, misgiving, misquoted, misrepresented, nervous, on tenterhooks, onerous, operose, oppressive, out-of-the-way, overanxious, overapprehensive, painful, perturbed, perverted, prolongated, prolonged, protracted, pulled, punishing, put-on, quite another thing, remote, self-conscious, slanted, solicitous, something else again, spun out, stiff, straggling, strenuous, stretched, stretched out, stretched tight, strung out, suspenseful, taut, tense, tight, toilsome, tortured, tough, troubled, troublesome, twisted, unamiable, unamicable, uncomfortable, uncordial, under a strain, uneasy, unfriendly, ungenial, unharmonious, unnatural, unrelaxed, unsociable, uphill, uptight, wearisome, zealous