straitjacket

or straight·jack·et

[ streyt-jak-it ]

noun

1. a garment made of strong material and designed to bind the arms, as of a violently disoriented person.
2. anything that severely confines, constricts, or hinders:

   Conventional attitudes can be a straitjacket, preventing original thinking.

verb (used with object)

1. to put in or as in a straitjacket:

   Her ambition was straitjacketed by her family.

straitjacket

/ ˈstreɪtˌdʒækɪt /

noun

1. Also calledstraightjacket a jacket made of strong canvas material with long sleeves for binding the arms of violent prisoners or mentally ill patients
2. a severe restriction or limitation

verb

1. tr to confine in or as if in a straitjacket

Word History and Origins

Origin of straitjacket¹

First recorded in 1805–15; strait + jacket

Example Sentences

Past precedent is important and instructive, but it shouldn’t be a straitjacket.

From Time

But the very decision to sell songs to targeted genre fans has turned into an aesthetic straitjacket.

From The Daily Beast

What matters now for Rowhani is whether he can get anything done within the straitjacket imposed by Khamenei.

From The Daily Beast

But they are struggling to overcome the ideological straitjacket that has become the U.S. Congress.

From The Daily Beast

“I hope that the visit and U.S. engagement will put the generals in a straitjacket,” said Aung Zaw.

From The Daily Beast

It was, almost literally, a political straitjacket for President Obama.

From The Daily Beast

His arms were inserted in the long, closed sleeves of the straitjacket.

From Project Gutenberg

The next minute he was pinned, handcuffed, and in a straitjacket, after crippling one assailant with a kick on the knee.

From Project Gutenberg

I always thought him sane enough until today, but you can take it from me that either he or I ought to be in a straitjacket.

From Project Gutenberg

The straitjacket which German idealism has provided is certainly far too narrow even for the varieties of human imagination.

From Project Gutenberg

His first move was to take the straitjacket in his own hands and order me to stand.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• ban
• constraint
• curb
• embargo
• limit
• prohibition
• reduction
• restriction