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:
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
On the line of limited-edition T-shirts Palantir launched last year, CEO Karp appears in watercolor, neck muscles taut and eyes hidden by dark sunglasses, above his favorite motto, “Dominate.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 19, 2026
My wife and I were in Paris during the tragedy and a decade later, the emotional tether I feel to the city remains taut.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 14, 2026
As metaphors for the American dream go, Gabriel Tallent’s taut and engrossing second novel, “Crux,” is exceedingly direct: It’s literally a book about climbing.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 20, 2026
Moose ran forward until the leash was taut and then doubled back, as if urging them to hurry.
From "Earthquake Terror" by Peg Kehret
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
The device, called CoolSculpting, was entering an already-crowded beauty industry selling flatter stomachs and tauter jaw lines, but it had an advantage: a vaunted scientific pedigree.
From New York Times ● Apr. 16, 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
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
Although it doesn’t rule out backup like horns and singers, “Look Now” channels Mr. Costello’s stylistic wanderings back into his tautest rock-band format.
From New York Times ● Sep. 12, 2018
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
She was indeed a proud ship, with the tautest masts and the squarest yards of any ship in the British navy.
From The Loss of the Royal George by Petherick, Horace
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.
