shut-in
Americanadjective
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confined to one's home, a hospital, etc., as from illness.
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Psychiatry. disposed to desire solitude; withdrawn; asocial.
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(of an oil or gas well) temporarily sealed up.
noun
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a person confined by infirmity or disease to the house, a hospital, etc.
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Also called shut-in well. an oil or gas well that has been closed down.
noun
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a person confined indoors by illness
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( as modifier )
a shut-in patient
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psychiatry a condition in which the person is highly withdrawn and unable to express his own feelings See also schizoid
Etymology
Origin of shut-in
1840–50, adj., noun use of verb phrase shut in
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.
Gen Z are often spoken about as the sober, shut-in generation.
From BBC • Apr. 25, 2026
“This may be the case in particular with Saudi Arabia and UAE,” they said, noting the two countries had a combined 4 million barrels a day of liquids production shut-in in the Middle East.
From Barron's • Apr. 9, 2026
Global energy prices are likely to remain elevated for some time after the Iran war winds down because of damage to energy infrastructure and shut-in wells that can’t be restarted overnight.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 29, 2026
Beyond the near-standstill of tanker traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, “every day of damaged or shut-in infrastructure pushes prewar production capacity further out of reach,” the analysts said.
From MarketWatch • Mar. 25, 2026
Wes’s aunt Nicey has been working for the State of Maryland doing home visits for the elderly, sick, and shut-in for a decade.
From "The Other Wes Moore: One Name, Two Fates" by Wes Moore
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.
