shut-in

American  

[shuht-in] / ˈʃʌtˌɪn /

adjective

1. confined to one's home, a hospital, etc., as from illness.

2. Psychiatry. disposed to desire solitude; withdrawn; asocial.

3. (of an oil or gas well) temporarily sealed up.

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noun

1. a person confined by infirmity or disease to the house, a hospital, etc.

2. Also called shut-in well.  an oil or gas well that has been closed down.

shut-in British  

noun

1. 1. a person confined indoors by illness

   2. ( as modifier )

      a shut-in patient

2. psychiatry a condition in which the person is highly withdrawn and unable to express his own feelings See also schizoid

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Etymology

Origin of shut-in

1840–50, adj., noun use of verb phrase shut in

Example Sentences

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

But I took deep pride in getting out in the world with a body that I feared was going to eventually reach shut-in status.

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 3, 2026

There are even flashes of Grace, the lonely shut-in mother of two in “The Others,” whose belief that her house is haunted causes her slow descent into madness.

From Salon • Mar. 27, 2025

The fact that she herself had been shut-in much of her life never seemed to occur to her.

From "The Hiding Place" by Corrie ten Boom

Related Words

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