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
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.
“I feel trapped in a tuxedo, like I have claustrophobia,” Almodóvar says, hugging his body as if he’s wearing a straitjacket.
From Los Angeles Times • May 11, 2026
For all its aspiration of freedom, it is a straitjacket that cannot be removed.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 17, 2026
It makes the whole project less overwhelming — more a compass than a straitjacket.
From Salon • Sep. 9, 2025
In dressing rooms, a size-XS shirt would go over my head instead of entrapping me like a straitjacket.
From Slate • Jul. 20, 2024
She struggled against the straitjacket, glared at me in frustration, and snapped, Well, Seaweed Brain?
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.
