taut
tightly drawn; tense; not slack.
emotionally or mentally strained or tense: taut nerves.
in good order or condition; tidy; neat.
Origin of taut
1Other words for taut
Other words from taut
- tautly, adverb
- tautness, noun
- un·taut, adjective
- un·taut·ly, adverb
- un·taut·ness, noun
Words that may be confused with taut
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use taut in a sentence
So whenever the election official lost line of sight with the door where the string was tied, 50 feet of string were taut against the wall of the building, leaving her with a 50-foot radius with which to move around.
Studio staged Burgess’s taut drama about lobbying and systemic political corruption in 2018, with Marti Lyons directing.
Audio adaptation of Beltway drama ‘Kings’ tantalizes but ultimately falls flat without a stage | Celia Wren | November 5, 2020 | Washington PostAs the rock began crashing down into the corridor, Pernigotti let go, falling 30 feet before the rope went taut, with other rocks, snow, and ice tumbling into the chasm all around him.
How Climate Change Is Making the Alps More Dangerous | Agostino Petroni | October 23, 2020 | Outside OnlineFive months later, Jackson issued the follow up, a taut 43-page decision with his legal conclusions from the case.
The Google antitrust case is nothing compared to the 1999 Microsoft case | Aaron Pressman | October 21, 2020 | FortuneThe latter once made headlines yearly for its dreamy fashion shows that regularly prioritized taut bodies and now-archaic ideas of femininity, while Savage X Fenty calls upon forms of all types for the revelation of its latest styles.
The Inclusivity Of Savage X Fenty’s Fashion Show Was A Game Changer | Nandi Howard | October 7, 2020 | Essence.com
The novel is a tautly paced thriller, but it also packs a searing satire of the much-ballyhooed modern world we live in.
The Author Of The Summer's Hit Paranoid Fantasy Opens Up | William O’Connor | August 15, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTThis tautly written, tightly plotted time bomb of a fiction covers two generations and 50 years in under 90 pages.
Gordon grinned tautly, stepped through, and pushed the blade against the inner plastic.
Police Your Planet | Lester del ReyHer two hands clutched tautly at his shoulders and her eyes gazed into his.
Destiny | Charles Neville BuckWith nerves as tautly drawn as fiddle strings, she remained very still.
The Secret of the Storm Country | Grace Miller WhiteHe questioned, his fingers involuntarily closing tautly about the butt of the revolver at his belt.
The Scarecrow and Other Stories | G. Ranger WormserHis whole body becoming rigid; tautly holding itself with straining, shaking muscles to the position in which he lay.
The Scarecrow and Other Stories | G. Ranger Wormser
British Dictionary definitions for taut
/ (tɔːt) /
tightly stretched; tense
showing nervous strain; stressed
mainly nautical in good order; neat
Origin of taut
1Derived forms of taut
- tautly, adverb
- tautness, noun
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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