adjective
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tightly stretched; tense
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showing nervous strain; stressed
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nautical in good order; neat
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Adjectives
Etymology
Origin of taut
1275–1325; earlier taught, Middle English tought; akin to tow 1
Explanation
Taut means tight rather than slack. The tightrope ought to be taut and not dangling down by the lion cage. It sounds like the word "taught" and means stretched tight, like a rope, muscles, or even nerves. It's nice to have a taut body with tight muscles, but not so great to have a taut mind — tightly wound and tense. "The Olympic gymnast's taut body was something she worked hard for, but she gave a taut reply to reporters who asked her so many questions about her past, which she wished to keep a secret." Taut is derived from an Old English word, meaning basically "to pull." If you're fishing, you're happy when your line becomes taut, because there's probably a fish pulling at it. Or an old boot.
Vocabulary lists containing taut
List 4
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"Beowulf," Vocabulary from the epic poem
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The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian
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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.
See Examples For:
His gaze shifts past snapshots he once documented of historical taut moments in Los Angeles like the 1966 Sunset Strip riots of West Hollywood or the 1970 Chicano Moratorium in Boyle Heights.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 9, 2026
Unlike a McNugget or a chicken fry, both of which are primarily taut pieces of dry stuff that exist as vehicles for sauce, the Cane’s version is obviously and unmistakably chicken.
From Slate ● Aug. 24, 2026
And Spain’s taut, 2-1 victory over Belgium in Friday’s high-stakes quarterfinals match.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 11, 2026
Grasping a pair of dark grey trousers, it raised its upper body to stretch the fabric taut, before laying it flat and arranging it into neat halves.
From Barron's ● Jun. 11, 2026
When Jiichan reached the other side, he began to push his own peg into the mud, pulling the twine taut.
From "A Place to Belong" by Cynthia Kadohata
Absent an intermission, the tension might grow tauter more consistently.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 2, 2026
The pacing is tauter this year, and more tense.
From New York Times ● Aug. 1, 2023
The device, called CoolSculpting, was entering an already-crowded beauty industry selling flatter stomachs and tauter jawlines, but it had an advantage: a vaunted scientific pedigree.
From Seattle Times ● Apr. 17, 2023
Could “Lessons” have been a few instructions tauter?
From Washington Post ● Apr. 5, 2022
And once more there was silence; and the expectancy, momentarily relaxed, was stretched again, tauter, tauter, almost to the tearing point.
From "Brave New World" by Aldous Huxley
The strongest, tautest story in the collection is “The Haunting of Hajji Hotak,” again told in second person, this time from the perspective of a government surveillant.
From New York Times ● Jul. 19, 2022
One of the tautest exchanges took place when Ose challenged Faulconer’s record on dealing with homelessness, a cornerstone of the former mayor’s campaign.
From Seattle Times ● Aug. 4, 2021
Although it doesn’t rule out backup like horns and singers, “Look Now” channels Mr. Costello’s stylistic wanderings back into his tautest rock-band format.
From New York Times ● Sep. 12, 2018
Affleck bested Denzel Washington, who starred and directed in “Fences;” the look on his face when Affleck’s name was read speaks as forcefully as any of August Williams’ tautest phrases.
From Salon ● Feb. 27, 2017
He hangs in the Willows a night and a day; He rifles the Buckwheat patches; Then battens his store of pelf galore Under the tautest hatches.
From Songs from Vagabondia by Richard Hovey
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
