Sentence examples for at times strained from inspiring English sources

Mr. Edwards did not shy, during an interview, from discussing Mr. Paladino's shortcomings, even as he sought — and at times strained — to put a positive spin on them.

The case is the latest in a series of episodes involving Indonesian domestic workers that have at times strained diplomatic relations between Indonesia and Malaysia.

Dowless, sitting in the back of the room with his legal counsel, sat erect and at times strained to hear the witness testimony.

Gainsborough's paintings of his wife bear witness to a long and on the whole companionate marriage, at times strained by his often intemperate behaviour.

Costello's at times strained honk is warmed by the close harmonies of Jim Lauderdale and set against exquisite mandolin, soaring fiddle, double bass and accordion.

Ms. Vega keeps one hand clenched to her stomach to suggest the debilitating effect of the stroke McCullers suffered at 30, but the performance feels tentative (to the point of forgetting some lyrics) and at times strained.

Mr. Randolph-Wright infuses the domestic drama of the Clarks with more melodramatic twists than the sudsiest of daytime soaps, at times straining credibility.

Likewise, the seams between the three narratives are awkwardly visible at times, straining the stitches that hold together the show's ambitious collection of different elements.

A terrible sound mix turned parts of the band's hour-long set into "Name That Tune," with frontman Gerard Way's reedy voice at times straining to be heard over jam-gone-wrong muddles of guitars and beats.

If some of this at times strains credulity (Why doesn't he phone home? Tranquilise himself? Tie his ankles together?), Ferris holds on to his conceit determinedly, and though alive to its absurdity hardly plays any of it for laughs – that way Wallace and Gromit's The Wrong Trousers lies.

Their relationship has at times been strained.