shut-in
Americanadjective
-
confined to one's home, a hospital, etc., as from illness.
-
Psychiatry. disposed to desire solitude; withdrawn; asocial.
-
(of an oil or gas well) temporarily sealed up.
noun
-
a person confined by infirmity or disease to the house, a hospital, etc.
-
Also called shut-in well. an oil or gas well that has been closed down.
noun
-
-
a person confined indoors by illness
-
( as modifier )
a shut-in patient
-
-
psychiatry a condition in which the person is highly withdrawn and unable to express his own feelings See also schizoid
Etymology
Origin of shut-in
1840–50, adj., noun use of verb phrase shut in
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
You might call your girlfriend and find out that she really just wants to settle in and watch some TV and talk to ChatGPT, not because she’s not a shut-in, but because it’s easier.
From Slate ● Sep. 29, 2026
I was a painfully shy introvert with a unibrow who yearned to be an elderly shut-in by age 9.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 7, 2026
But the oil currently leaving the strait has up to now been sitting in tankers or storage facilities, said Saxo Bank analyst Ole Hansen, adding that "shut-in production takes time to restart".
From Barron's ● Jul. 5, 2026
Iran will have to restart shut-in wells—a complicated task.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 20, 2026
Wes’s aunt Nicey has been working for the State of Maryland doing home visits for the elderly, sick, and shut-in for a decade.
From "The Other Wes Moore: One Name, Two Fates" by Wes Moore
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
