tight

[tahyt]

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SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR tight ON THESAURUS.COM

adjective, tight·er, tight·est.

firmly or closely fixed in place; not easily moved; secure: a tight knot.

drawn or stretched so as to be tense; taut.

affording little or no extra room; fitting closely, especially too closely: a tight collar.

difficult to deal with or manage: to be in a tight situation.

of such close or compacted texture, or fitted together so closely, as to be impervious to water, air, steam, etc.: a good, tight roof.

concise; terse: a tight style of writing.

firm; rigid: his tight control of the company.

carefully arranged or organized and full; affording little leeway; compact: a tight schedule.

nearly even; close: a tight race.

Informal.

close, as friends; familiar or intimate.
united: The strikers are tight in their refusal to accept the proposed contract.

parsimonious; stingy.

Slang. amazing; cool: Your new place is tight!

Older Slang. drunk; tipsy.

characterized by scarcity or eager demand; costly; limited; restricted: a tight job market; tight money.

Journalism. (of a newspaper) having more news available than is required for or utilizable in a particular issue.

Baseball. inside(def 18).

Scot. and North England. competent or skillful.

tidy.

neatly or well built or made.

adverb, tight·er, tight·est.

in a tight manner; closely; firmly; securely; tensely: Shut the door tight. The shirt fit tight across the shoulders.

soundly or deeply: to sleep tight.

Idioms

sit tight, to take no action.

Origin of tight

1400–50; late Middle English, sandhi variant of Middle English thight dense, solid, tight < Old Norse thēttr (cognate with Old English -thiht firm, solid, Dutch, German dicht tight, close, dense)

Related formstight·ly, adverbtight·ness, nouno·ver·tight, adjectiveo·ver·tight·ly, adverbo·ver·tight·ness, noun

Synonyms for tight

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR tight ON THESAURUS.COM

11. close, mean, grasping, frugal, sparing.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for tight

compact, strong, stiff, solid, strained, sturdy, steady, fast, inflexible, tense, taut, stable, quick, rigid, thick, narrow, cramped, tightened, airtight, short

Examples from the Web for tight

Contemporary Examples of tight

And that means they also fall under the umbrella of programs most likely to get the axe when state and federal budgets are tight.
How to Solve the Policing Crisis
Keli Goff
January 5, 2015
Weirich said whenever she saw Fox, she was wearing something too tight.
Inside A Finishing School for Transwomen
Sharon Adarlo
December 27, 2014
He dropped and I felt a tight surge in my stomach that ran all the way up to my jaw.
I Shot Bin Laden
Elliot Ackerman
November 16, 2014
His uniform was too tight and was wrapped around his doughy body like cellophane.
I Shot Bin Laden
Elliot Ackerman
November 16, 2014
LePage owed his election in 2010 to a split opposition, as he won a tight three-way race over Cutler and Democrat Libby Mitchell.
Republican Wave Carries Maine Governor Paul LePage to Victory
Ben Jacobs
November 5, 2014

Historical Examples of tight

His grasp did not bruise, it did not seem to be tight; but the hand that held it was immovable.
The Spenders
Harry Leon Wilson
Linda suddenly gathered her friend in her arms and held her tight.
Her Father's Daughter
Gene Stratton-Porter
You never know what hold you really have until you get in a tight place.
The Leopard Woman
Stewart Edward White
Screwed the top on tight, which would make the connection, and then forgot the time.
The Secret Agent
Joseph Conrad
We were both down, with our faces in the snow, and I held him tight.
In the Valley
Harold Frederic

British Dictionary definitions for tight

tight

adjective

stretched or drawn so as not to be loose; tauta tight cord

fitting or covering in a close mannera tight dress

held, made, fixed, or closed firmly and securelya tight knot

of close and compact construction or organization, esp so as to be impervious to water, air, etc
(in combination)watertight; airtight

unyielding or stringentto keep a tight hold on resources

cramped or constricteda tight fit

mean or miserly

difficult and problematica tight situation

hardly profitablea tight bargain

economics

(of a commodity) difficult to obtain; in excess demand
(of funds, money, etc) difficult and expensive to borrow because of high demand or restrictive monetary policy
(of markets) characterized by excess demand or scarcity with prices tending to riseCompare easy (def. 8)

(of a match or game) very close or even

(of a team or group, esp of a pop group) playing well together, in a disciplined coordinated way

informal drunk

informal (of a person) showing tension

archaic, or dialect neat

adverb

in a close, firm, or secure waypull it tight

sit tight

to wait patiently; bide one's time
to maintain one's position, stand, or opinion firmly

sleep tight to sleep soundly

Derived Formstightly, adverbtightness, noun

Word Origin for tight

C14: probably variant of thight, from Old Norse thēttr close; related to Middle High German dīhte thick

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 tight

adj.

mid-15c., "dense, close, compact," from Middle English thight, from Old Norse þettr "watertight, close in texture, solid," from Proto-Germanic *thenkhtuz (cf. second element in Old English meteþiht "stout from eating;" Middle High German dihte "dense, thick," German dicht "dense, tight," Old High German gidigan, German gediegen "genuine, solid, worthy"), from PIE root *tenk- "to become firm, curdle, thicken" (cf. Irish techt "curdled, coagulated," Lithuanian tankus "close, tight," Persian tang "tight," Sanskrit tanakti "draws together, contracts").

Sense of "drawn, stretched" is from 1570s; meaning "fitting closely" (as of garments) is from 1779; that of "evenly matched" (of a contest, bargain, etc.) is from 1828, American English; that of "drunk" is from 1830; that of "close, sympathetic" is from 1956. Tight-assed "unwilling to relax" is attested from 1903. Tight-laced is recorded from 1741 in both the literal and figurative senses. Tight-lipped is first attested 1876.

Idioms and Phrases with tight

tight

In addition to the idioms beginning with tight

tight as a drum
tight as a tick
tighten one's belt
tighten the screws
tight rein on, a
tight ship
tight spot
tight squeeze

also see:

in a bind (tight corner)
sit tight