straitjacket
Americannoun
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a garment made of strong material and designed to bind the arms, as of a violently disoriented person.
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anything that severely confines, constricts, or hinders.
Conventional attitudes can be a straitjacket, preventing original thinking.
verb (used with object)
noun
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Also called: straightjacket. a jacket made of strong canvas material with long sleeves for binding the arms of violent prisoners or mentally ill patients
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a severe restriction or limitation
verb
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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straitjacketsimple
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straitjacketssimple
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have straitjacketedperfect
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has straitjacketedperfect
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am straitjacketingprogressive
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are straitjacketingprogressive
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is straitjacketingprogressive
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have been straitjacketingperfect progressive
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has been straitjacketingperfect progressive
Past
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straitjacketedsimple
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had straitjacketedperfect
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was straitjacketingprogressive
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were straitjacketingprogressive
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had been straitjacketingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of straitjacket
Explanation
A jacket-shaped restraint that's meant to confine a violent person safely is called a straitjacket. Straitjackets were once commonly used in psychiatric hospitals. These days you're much more likely to see a straitjacket used as a prop in magic show than in a hospital. Illusionists use straitjackets to perform escape tricks, since they're famously difficult (if not impossible) to wriggle out of. Straitjackets are made of sturdy material and hold the wearer's arms tightly against the body. Before the invention of modern psychiatric medicines and techniques, mentally ill patients were frequently restrained in straitjackets to protect themselves and others.
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.
For all its aspiration of freedom, it is a straitjacket that cannot be removed.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 17, 2026
And she suggested replacing the contentious Let's Create strategy, which she said was widely seen as a straitjacket, "stifling artistic innovation and creativity".
From BBC • Dec. 16, 2025
It makes the whole project less overwhelming — more a compass than a straitjacket.
From Salon • Sep. 9, 2025
We all know what it’s like to feel that straitjacket of opinions about what’s gonna make a hit record.
From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 16, 2024
My nightmare started out as something I’d dreamed a million times before: I was being forced to take a standardized test while wearing a straitjacket.
From "The Lightning Thief" by Rick Riordan
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.
