tight

[ tahyt ]

/ taɪt /

|||

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.

Nearby words

tigerfish, tigerish, tigerishly, tiggerish, tighina, tight, tight as a drum, tight as a tick, tight end, tight five, tight forward

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)

SYNONYMS FOR tight

11 close, mean, grasping, frugal, sparing.

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR tight ON THESAURUS.COM

Related forms

tight·ly, adverbtight·ness, nouno·ver·tight, adjectiveo·ver·tight·ly, adverb

o·ver·tight·ness, noun

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

Examples from the Web for tightly

That was accomplished by cops such as the one whose picture was clutched so tightly by his widow on Sunday.
Funeral Protest Is Too Much for NYPD Union Boss|Michael Daly|January 5, 2015|DAILY BEAST
They lifted her up, and when they saw that she was laced too tightly, they cut the stay lace in two.
In New Brothers Grimm 'Snow White', The Prince Doesn't Save Her|The Brothers Grimm|November 30, 2014|DAILY BEAST
She checks the buttons to make sure that they are all tightly fastened.
Acid Attacks on Women Spread Terror in Iran|IranWire|October 18, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Three feet of tightly packed earth was then added on top of the roof.
Life Under Air Strikes: Children Under Fire Will Never Forget — or Forgive|Clive Irving|August 3, 2014|DAILY BEAST

Reality shows are as tightly storylined and produced as drama, the genre they displaced.
‘The Real Housewives of New York City’ Loses a Leg in Sixth-Season Finale|Tim Teeman|July 23, 2014|DAILY BEAST
I looked intently, and it seemed to me that what I saw was a corpse, tightly swathed in grave-clothes.
The Treasure of the Tigris|A. F. Mockler Ferryman
The door was of sheet-iron, and it was tightly closed and barred.
The Young Oarsmen of Lakeview|Ralph Bonehill
An instant later a tightly packed flock of frightened sheep crowded into the shed.
Men Called Him Master|Elwyn Allen Smith
Only, while we are travelling, do be careful not to squeeze too tightly; it rumples her stock.
Amy in Acadia|Helen Leah Reed
Their camp outfits were tightly tied in water-proof bags, and securely fastened to the saddles of the steeds.
Two Boy Gold Miners|Frank V. Webster

British Dictionary definitions for tightly

tight

/ (taɪt) /

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 tightly

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 tightly

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

tight