tight
Americanadjective
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tighter,
comparative
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tightest
superlative
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firmly or closely fixed in place; not easily moved; secure.
a tight knot.
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drawn or stretched so as to be tense; taut.
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affording little or no extra room; fitting closely, especially too closely.
a tight collar.
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difficult to deal with or manage.
to be in a tight situation.
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of such close or compacted texture, or fitted together so closely, as to be impervious to water, air, steam, etc..
a good, tight roof.
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a tight style of writing.
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his tight control of the company.
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carefully arranged or organized and full; affording little leeway; packed.
a tight schedule.
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nearly even; close.
a tight race.
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Informal.
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close, as friends; familiar or intimate.
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united.
The strikers are tight in their refusal to accept the proposed contract.
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Your new place is tight!
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characterized by scarcity or eager demand; limited; restricted.
a tight job market;
tight money.
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Journalism. (of a newspaper) having more news available than is required for or utilizable in a particular issue.
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Baseball. inside.
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Scot. and North England. competent or skillful.
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neatly or well built or made.
adverb
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in a tight manner; closely; securely; tautly; firmly.
Shut the door tight.
The shirt fit tight across the shoulders.
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soundly or deeply.
to sleep tight.
idioms
adjective
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stretched or drawn so as not to be loose; taut
a tight cord
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fitting or covering in a close manner
a tight dress
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held, made, fixed, or closed firmly and securely
a tight knot
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of close and compact construction or organization, esp so as to be impervious to water, air, etc
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( in combination )
watertight
airtight
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unyielding or stringent
to keep a tight hold on resources
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cramped or constricted
a tight fit
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mean or miserly
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difficult and problematic
a tight situation
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hardly profitable
a tight bargain
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economics
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(of a commodity) difficult to obtain; in excess demand
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(of funds, money, etc) difficult and expensive to borrow because of high demand or restrictive monetary policy
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(of markets) characterized by excess demand or scarcity with prices tending to rise Compare easy
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(of a match or game) very close or even
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(of a team or group, esp of a pop group) playing well together, in a disciplined coordinated way
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informal drunk
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informal (of a person) showing tension
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archaic neat
adverb
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in a close, firm, or secure way
pull it tight
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to wait patiently; bide one's time
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to maintain one's position, stand, or opinion firmly
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to sleep soundly
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Adjectives
Etymology
Origin of tight
First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English, pronunciation variant of Middle English thight “dense, solid, tight,” from Old Norse thēttr (cognate with Old English -thiht “firm, solid,” Dutch, German dicht “tight, close, dense”)
Explanation
If something is closed or fastened so firmly that it can barely be moved, it's tight. And if you accidentally shrunk your favorite pair of jeans in the wash, they might be tight too. There are many ways to use this handy adjective, including to mean "very firm," like the tight grip you keep on your dog's leash, and "strictly imposed," like a movie star's tight security. If things in your household are tight, they're scarce: "Money's tight this month, so it's peanut butter for lunch." And if you and your cousin are tight, it means you're emotionally close to each other.
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:
With Strait of Hormuz flows unlikely to normalize soon and repairs to Gulf refineries targeted by Iranian attacks expected to take months, the market could remain tight and keep margins elevated for months.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 11, 2026
The company’s chief business officer, Sumit Sadana, said at a conference Monday that Micron expects tight supply to persist beyond 2027 given increasing demand from customers.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 10, 2026
"All my strength and love to my homeland. Let’s hold each other tight," said Colombian pop megastar Shakira.
From Barron's ● Aug. 10, 2026
State Sen. Ben Allen and former San Francisco Supervisor Jane Kim have split key endorsements, setting up a tight race for California’s next insurance commissioner.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 7, 2026
At the salon, my stylist, Mari, has tight brown curls that dance around her face, and her voice gets all high-pitched and excited as she talks about what she can do with my hair.
From "Keeping Pace" by Laurie Morrison
He alluded to rivals Anthropic and OpenAI, who have called for tighter controls on the technology.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 12, 2026
A stronger print could reinforce a tighter policy and add further pressure to gold, says Tony Sage, CEO of Critical Metals, in a note.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 12, 2026
"People haven't got the resources to sit in a pub for three or four hours and enjoy themselves. I get the impression people are holidaying on a tighter budget."
From BBC ● Aug. 11, 2026
The supply of HBM is getting tighter, and pricing for HBM4 and HBM4E is “even stronger than our prior expectations,” UBS’s Arcuri said in a note.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 10, 2026
The stars moved so quickly, Danny held on tighter.
From "The Way to Rio Luna" by Zoraida Cordova
In February, for instance, the U.S.-Japan 2-year-yield spread was the tightest since early 2022.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 23, 2026
Rather than a shootout or penalty kicks, the championship was decided by a single moment of quality in one of the tournament’s tightest contests.
From Salon ● Jul. 19, 2026
The formal declaration of Fujimori's win brings one of Peru's tightest leadership contests of all time to a close and ushers in the Andean nation's ninth president in a decade.
From Barron's ● Jul. 3, 2026
He took the ball in the tightest of spaces and appeared to have the whole of Wembley to himself.
From BBC ● May 28, 2026
On Monday, the twentieth of April, under the tightest of security, we were taken to the Palace of Justice, this time to begin our defense.
From "Long Walk to Freedom" by Nelson Mandela
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.
