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
Conjugated Forms
Present
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have straitjacketedperfect
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has straitjacketedperfect 3rd person singular
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have been straitjacketingperfect progressive
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am straitjacketingprogressive 1st person singular
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are straitjacketingprogressive
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has been straitjacketingperfect progressive 3rd person singular
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is straitjacketingprogressive 3rd person singular
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straitjacketssingular 3rd person
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straitjacketingparticiple
Past
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had straitjacketedperfect
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were straitjacketingprogressive plural
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was straitjacketingprogressive singular
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had been straitjacketingperfect progressive
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straitjacketedparticiple
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straitjacketedsimple
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
The first three weeks saw an 8-year-old aerialist, a 74-year-old comedian, a laser-performing duo from Vietnam and a Las Vegas magician who hung from the ceiling in a straitjacket.
From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 10, 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
When they bound Shadrack into a straitjacket, he was both relieved and grateful, for his hands were at last hidden and confined to whatever size they had attained.
From "Sula" by Toni Morrison
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.
