- past tense form of constipate.
- past participle 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.
Were that so there might be a Netflix category for Films Starring Emotionally Constipated Men the way there’s one for Strong Female Leads.
From The Guardian • Nov. 26, 2018
According to medical texts, which are in love with easy-to-remember mnemonic devices, problems with the thyroid cause you to become “Crabby, Constipated and Concentration-impaired.”
From Washington Post • Sep. 25, 2015
Parents Share Advice for the Constipated Child Miralax has become a long-term solution for childhood constipation.
From New York Times • May 27, 2012
Crewmen gave it a host of nicknames, among them “the Flying Brick,” “the Flying Boxcar,” and “the Constipated Lumberer,” a play on Consolidated Liberator.
From "Unbroken" by Laura Hillenbrand
Constipated people, semi-constipated people, irregular people and twenty-four-hour people, are not healthy.
From Intestinal Ills Chronic Constipation, Indigestion, Autogenetic Poisons, Diarrhea, Piles, Etc. Also Auto-Infection, Auto-Intoxication, Anemia, Emaciation, Etc. Due to Proctitis and Colitis by Jamison, Alcinous B. (Alcinous Burton)
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.
