- past participle of constipate.
- past tense form of constipate.
constipated
Americanadjective
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having a condition of the bowels in which the feces are dry and hardened and evacuation is difficult and infrequent.
Most constipated people need more fluids and fiber.
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slow-moving or immobilized, as by overregulation, backlogs, etc..
Such an approach only adds to a bloated bureaucracy and constipated decision-making.
-
overly stiff, repressed, or conventional; uptight.
She describes her husband as “emotionally constipated.”
adjective
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suffering from constipation
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subject to restriction or blockage in a flow of productive activity or creativity
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of constipated
First recorded in 1540–50; constipat(e) ( def. ) + -ed 2 ( def. )
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 could run into the extremes of eating too much, where if you're not drinking enough water to hydrate and exceed the amount of soluble and insoluble fiber, you can get constipated," Lee said.
From Science Daily ● Mar. 8, 2026
When Leonidas was just a month old, he was fussy and often constipated.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 3, 2026
The tycoon, played with constipated entitlement by Guy Pearce, has the pastiche name Harrison Lee Van Buren.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 18, 2024
If by chance I eat three in a day, I get constipated.
From Seattle Times ● Jun. 7, 2023
I started grunting like I was constipated or something, just to draw attention.
From "Patina" by Jason Reynolds
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.
