strait
1 of 3noun
strait
2 of 3adjective
strait
3 of 3adverb
Did you know?
strait or straight?
Straight and strait are homophones (“one of two or more words pronounced alike but different in meaning or derivation or spelling”), and many people are in the habit of confusing such creatures, particularly when used in fixed phrases. If you express no emotion you have a straight face; an upright person is a straight shooter; a straight flush is “a poker hand containing five cards of the same suit in sequence.” However, if you find yourself in a difficult situation you are in dire straits. Straitjacket and straitlaced are the more commonly used forms for the restrictive garment and the “strict in manners” adjective, although straightjacket and straightlaced are also occasionally found.
Synonyms
Noun
- channel
- narrows
- neck
- sound
Example Sentences
Natalie Andrews, WSJ, 14 Aug. 2022 Chinese carrier Xiamen Airlines, meanwhile, announced disruptions to 30 flights on Tuesday as a result of air traffic controls in Fujian, the Chinese province directly across the strait from Taiwan. Lily Kuo, Washington Post, 2 Aug. 2022 While still in the strait, another band of mutineers seized the armada’s largest ship, the San Antonio, and bolted for Spain, carrying essential provisions as well as reports of their captain’s cruelty and recklessness. Gerard Helferich, WSJ, 14 Aug. 2022 Beijing began a second day of military drills surrounding the island Friday morning, sending multiple military vessels and aircraft across the median line in the strait that had been an unofficial buffer zone for decades. Rhoda Kwan, NBC News, 5 Aug. 2022 Taiwan’s defense ministry said Saturday that Chinese military aircraft and ships in the strait appeared to be simulating an attack on the main island of Taiwan. Vivian Wang, BostonGlobe.com, 6 Aug. 2022 Chinese state media reported the Su-35 flights shortly before Mrs. Pelosi arrived in Taipei, using phrasing that could either mean the jets were flying across the strait or through it. Chun Han Wong, WSJ, 3 Aug. 2022 The volcano sits in Kagoshima Bay, and fleeing residents escaped by ferry across a narrow strait to the main part of Kagoshima, a city of 590,000. Harold Maass, The Week, 25 July 2022 More than 70 industry tastemakers from over 10 countries across the region congregated along the famed strait in the East Garden under towering palm trees. Jennifer Kester, Forbes, 18 July 2022 Brian Spegele, WSJ, 3 Aug. 2022 Our lives in Taiwan do not revolve around cross-strait relations. Clarissa Wei, CNN, 2 Aug. 2022 The normally strait-laced Associated Press has hired a democracy news editor. Matt Pearce, Los Angeles Times, 29 July 2022 But interest in political risk insurance has grown in recent months amid rising cross-strait tensions, and this week, with Chinese forces launching missiles from waters near the island, insurance has become very hard to find. Richard Vanderford, WSJ, 8 Aug. 2022 Sand—a key ingredient in the glass, concrete, mortars, and plasters used in many construction projects—has emerged as a small but contentious flashpoint in cross-strait relations. Nicolas Rivero, Quartz, 4 Aug. 2022 Taiwan’s business community, led by giants like iPhone maker Foxconn and chip manufacturer TSMC, is adept at navigating U.S.-China and cross-strait relations. Grady Mcgregor, Fortune, 2 Aug. 2022 China, meanwhile, has sent record numbers of war planes near Taiwan, as cross-strait tensions soared to their highest in recent decades. Alex Rogers, CNN, 20 July 2022 As a teenager in a fundamentalist church, Corinne idolizes strait-laced Enoch Miller, the eldest son of the people who brought her family into the fold. Becky Meloan, Washington Post, 16 July 2022 See More Word History
Adjective
Middle English, from Anglo-French estreit, from Latin strictus strait, strict, from past participle of stringere
Noun
14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1c
Adjective
13th century, in the meaning defined at sense 2
Adverb
13th century, in the meaning defined above
Kids Definition
strait
noun
straits
noun
Synonyms & Similar Words
- distress
- anguish
- agony
- pain
- sorrow
- misery
- sadness
- tribulation
- woe
- excruciation
- hurt
- torment
- travail
- torture
- hardship
- rack
- affliction
- cross
- emergency
- discomfort
- crucible
- heartbreak
- unhappiness
- heartache
- danger
- jeopardy
- difficulty
- ache
- joylessness
- pang
- smarting
- soreness
- pinch
- asperity
- trouble
- rigor
- trial
- throe
- stitch
- twinge
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
- relief
- solace
- consolation
- comfort
- ease
- alleviation
- security
- peace
- assuagement
- well-being
Synonym Chooser
Some common synonyms of straits are contingency, crisis, emergency, exigency, juncture, pinch, and strait. While all these words mean "a critical or crucial time or state of affairs," strait, now commonly straits, applies to a troublesome situation from which escape is extremely difficult.
The synonyms contingency and straits are sometimes interchangeable, but contingency implies an emergency or exigency that is regarded as possible but uncertain of occurrence.
The meanings of crisis and straits largely overlap; however, crisis applies to a juncture whose outcome will make a decisive difference.
In some situations, the words emergency and straits are roughly equivalent. However, emergency applies to a sudden unforeseen situation requiring prompt action to avoid disaster.
While in some cases nearly identical to straits, exigency stresses the pressure of restrictions or urgency of demands created by a special situation.
Although the words juncture and straits have much in common, juncture stresses the significant concurrence or convergence of events.
Pinch implies urgency or pressure for action to a less intense degree than exigency or emergency.