taut

[tawt]

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adjective, taut·er, taut·est.

tightly drawn; tense; not slack.
emotionally or mentally strained or tense: taut nerves.
in good order or condition; tidy; neat.

Origin of taut

1275–1325; earlier taught, Middle English tought; akin to tow¹

Related formstaut·ly, adverbtaut·ness, nounun·taut, adjectiveun·taut·ly, adverbun·taut·ness, noun

Can be confusedtaught taut taunt

Synonyms for taut

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3. trim, trig, spruce, smart.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for tautness

tension, stress, anxiety, bruise, pressure, burden, ache, injury, sprain, nervousness, hardship, crunch, agony, intensity, strain, heat, trauma, hassle, fear, worry

Examples from the Web for tautness

Historical Examples of tautness

His sudden face went from the tautness of his last speech to fear.
Captives of the Flame
Samuel R. Delany
Parish Thornton was breathing his words through lips that scarcely moved as he bent forward with the tautness of a coiled spring.
The Roof Tree
Charles Neville Buck
She felt again the muscles of his forearms snap into tautness as he stood silent under her father's insults.
The Tyranny of Weakness
Charles Neville Buck
Conscious of the tautness of his own nerves, strung like quivering violin strings.
Astounding Stories, February, 1931
Various
To me, strung up to a tautness of sensation that almost frightens me, this silence of the Mate is horrible.
An Ocean Tramp
William McFee

British Dictionary definitions for tautness

taut

adjective

tightly stretched; tense
showing nervous strain; stressed
mainly nautical in good order; neat

Derived Formstautly, adverbtautness, noun

Word Origin for taut

C14 tought; probably related to Old English togian to tow 1

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

Word Origin and History for tautness

taut

adj.

early 14c., tohte, possibly from tog-, past participle stem of Old English teon "to pull, drag," from Proto-Germanic *tugn, from PIE *deuk- "to lead" (see duke (n.)).