uptight
Americanadjective
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tense, nervous, or jittery.
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annoyed or angry.
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stiffly conventional in manner or attitudes.
adjective
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displaying tense repressed nervousness, irritability, or anger
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unable to give expression to one's feelings, personality, etc
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of uptight
Explanation
To be uptight is to be tense. When you're uptight, you're stressed out and anxious. If your friends are always telling you to relax, you may be a little uptight. People who are uptight tend to be stressed out. Your worried grandmother might be considered uptight, and so might your sister's angry teacher who is always yelling at the class. The adjective uptight was first used as popular slang in the 1930's to mean "tense." In the 1960's, the connotation changed to "straight-laced" or "conservative." For a brief time, uptight appeared in jazz slang meaning "excellent."
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.
Sean Penn, Hollywood's eternal rebel, on Sunday won a third Oscar for his comic yet terrifying portrayal of an absurdly uptight soldier ashamed of his past in "One Battle After Another."
From Barron's • Mar. 16, 2026
The depictions of Ruth’s uptight and stingy brother Hyacinth and jealous and mother-in-law from hell “old Mrs. Hall” are both hoots.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 27, 2026
Before we meet any characters in “The Family Stone,” Thomas Bezucha’s 2005 holiday dramedy about a close-knit extended family meeting their prodigal son’s uptight new girlfriend for the first time, a cellphone rings.
From Salon • Oct. 15, 2025
He would have probably been more restrained and uptight if it hadn't been Levy asking the questions.
From BBC • Oct. 2, 2025
Soon as I saw him I got uptight.
From "Slam!" by Walter Dean Myers
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.
