adjective
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tightly stretched; tense
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showing nervous strain; stressed
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nautical in good order; neat
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Adjectives
Etymology
Origin of taut
1275–1325; earlier taught, Middle English tought; akin to tow 1
Explanation
Taut means tight rather than slack. The tightrope ought to be taut and not dangling down by the lion cage. It sounds like the word "taught" and means stretched tight, like a rope, muscles, or even nerves. It's nice to have a taut body with tight muscles, but not so great to have a taut mind — tightly wound and tense. "The Olympic gymnast's taut body was something she worked hard for, but she gave a taut reply to reporters who asked her so many questions about her past, which she wished to keep a secret." Taut is derived from an Old English word, meaning basically "to pull." If you're fishing, you're happy when your line becomes taut, because there's probably a fish pulling at it. Or an old boot.
Vocabulary lists containing taut
List 4
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"Beowulf," Vocabulary from the epic poem
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The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian
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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.
See Examples For:
Its taut nylon cord was tied to a buoy, establishing what divers call a shot line, which they use to guide their descent into and ascent from the depths.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 12, 2026
Grasping a pair of dark grey trousers, it raised its upper body to stretch the fabric taut, before laying it flat and arranging it into neat halves.
From Barron's ● Jun. 11, 2026
What’s most instructive about Bedlam’s “Othello” is how it reveals the taut mastery of Shakespeare’s writing.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 3, 2026
Where to watch: Not currently available Nominated for: International feature, sound What we said: “‘Sirāt’ is taut and riveting and nearly all mood.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 22, 2026
It was as though voices had been spun out like threads, twisted taut, ready to snap.
From "The Book of Three" by Lloyd Alexander
With judicious trimming, particularly of the occasional puddle of expository or repetitive dialogue, the play would gain a tauter pace.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 26, 2025
The device, called CoolSculpting, was entering an already-crowded beauty industry selling flatter stomachs and tauter jawlines, but it had an advantage: a vaunted scientific pedigree.
From Seattle Times ● Apr. 17, 2023
All told, "Moon Knight" is an odd show in that it gives us characters and actors we'd love to spend more time with, albeit in tauter scenarios than the one presented here.
From Salon ● Mar. 30, 2022
The dogs followed quietly until Sophie glanced back and pulled the leashes a little tauter.
From New York Times ● Dec. 22, 2016
And once more there was silence; and the expectancy, momentarily relaxed, was stretched again, tauter, tauter, almost to the tearing point.
From "Brave New World" by Aldous Huxley
The strongest, tautest story in the collection is “The Haunting of Hajji Hotak,” again told in second person, this time from the perspective of a government surveillant.
From New York Times ● Jul. 19, 2022
One of the tautest exchanges took place when Ose challenged Faulconer’s record on dealing with homelessness, a cornerstone of the former mayor’s campaign.
From Seattle Times ● Aug. 4, 2021
Affleck bested Denzel Washington, who starred and directed in “Fences;” the look on his face when Affleck’s name was read speaks as forcefully as any of August Williams’ tautest phrases.
From Salon ● Feb. 27, 2017
I’m not suggesting you gather the family on Christmas week for this one, but this tautest of thrillers from the Coen Brothers won Best Picture for a reason.
From New York Times ● Dec. 1, 2016
He hangs in the Willows a night and a day; He rifles the Buckwheat patches; Then battens his store of pelf galore Under the tautest hatches.
From Songs from Vagabondia by Richard Hovey
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.
