uptight

[uhp-tahyt]

adjective

Slang.

1. tense, nervous, or jittery.

2. annoyed or angry.

3. stiffly conventional in manner or attitudes.

uptight

/ ʌpˈtaɪt /

adjective

1. displaying tense repressed nervousness, irritability, or anger

2. unable to give expression to one's feelings, personality, etc

Other Word Forms

• uptightness noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of uptight¹

1960–65, up (perhaps as intensifier) + tight

Example Sentences

Before we meet any characters in “The Family Stone,” Thomas Bezucha’s 2005 holiday dramedy about a close-knit extended family meeting their prodigal son’s uptight new girlfriend for the first time, a cellphone rings.

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He would have probably been more restrained and uptight if it hadn't been Levy asking the questions.

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It took a once controversial effort for Bernstein to transform an uptight virtuosic New York Philharmonic into a tight but electric one.

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As a 25-year-old Boston Symphony assistant conductor, he was speaking to audiences, sharing enthusiasm that not all uptight Bostonians were quite ready for.

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There are certain people in the room that are so uptight that I kind of want to win them over first, just so I can get away with the rest of the monologue.

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Related Words

• anxious 
• apprehensive 
• cautious 
• edgy 
• nervous 
• uneasy