constipated

American  

[kon-stuh-pey-tid] / ˈkɒn stəˌpeɪ tɪd /

adjective

1. 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.

2. slow-moving or immobilized, as by overregulation, backlogs, etc..

   Such an approach only adds to a bloated bureaucracy and constipated decision-making.

3. overly stiff, repressed, or conventional; uptight.

   She describes her husband as “emotionally constipated.”

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constipated British  

/ ˈkɒnstɪˌpeɪtɪd /

adjective

1. suffering from constipation

2. subject to restriction or blockage in a flow of productive activity or creativity

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Other Word Forms

• unconstipated
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of constipated

First recorded in 1540–50; constipat(e) ( def. ) + -ed ² ( def. )

Example Sentences

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)