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 disposed to desire solitude; withdrawn; asocial.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psychiatry a condition in which the person is highly withdrawn and unable to express his own feelings See also schizoid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.
I was a painfully shy introvert with a unibrow who yearned to be an elderly shut-in by age 9.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 7, 2026
But the oil currently leaving the strait has up to now been sitting in tankers or storage facilities, said Saxo Bank analyst Ole Hansen, adding that "shut-in production takes time to restart".
From Barron's ● Jul. 5, 2026
Gen Z are often spoken about as the sober, shut-in generation.
From BBC ● Apr. 25, 2026
The economic cost to Iran is mounting, and, if it is sustained, Tehran will soon have to shut-in wells that it will be costly to restart.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 17, 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.
