tight
/tʌɪt
/adjective
1Fixed, fastened, or closed firmly; hard to move, undo, or open: she twisted her handkerchief into a tight knot I prised the tight lid off with my knife...
- Giving it to Lior, Shumba watched as the guard drew closer to Amenra, her graying blond curls fastened in a tight knot along her gold enclosed neck.
- Just then, there was a short knock and the door swung open to reveal his mother, undoing her tight, business-like bun.
- She can't open cans or bottles if the lid is tight, and she's had to give up needlepoint.
Synonyms
compact, compacted, compressed, dense, hard, unyielding, solid
1.1(Of clothes or shoes) close-fitting, especially uncomfortably so: the dress was too tight for her a tight-fitting top...
- Never ride in cold weather with tight boots or shoes, nor close-fitting gloves.
- Also tighten your shoes well and wear tight socks so that they will not come out of the shoes.
- Don't wear tight clothing or shoes that can cause pressure and blistering.
Synonyms
tight-fitting, close-fitting, narrow, figure-hugging, skintight, sheath-like
informal sprayed on
1.2(Of a grip) very firm: she released her tight hold on the dog figurative presidential advisers keep a tight grip on domestic policy...
- Flynn wants to keep a tight grip on the purse strings.
- Not only do they survive childbirth and carrying heavy loads, they know how to keep a tight grip on luck, love and happiness.
- He reached up and patted her horse with his bandaged hand, careful to keep a tight grip on the reigns with the other as they walked down the broad main street.
Synonyms
firm, fast, secure, fixed, clenched, clinched
1.3(Of a ship, building, or object) well sealed against something such as water or air: [in combination]: a light-tight container...
- Pigs have died after a ventilation failure in a tight building.
- If the house is fairly tight, the simplest route for makeup air to enter the structure is often the unused fireplace chimney.
- A tight home can literally use up enough air that the fireplace flue is the only route for a fresh supply of outside air available.
Synonyms
impervious, impenetrable, sealed, sound, hermetic;
watertight, waterproof, airtight
2(Of a rope, fabric, or surface) stretched so as to leave no slack; not loose: the drawcord pulls tight...
- I simply held the fabric tight front and back of the presser foot and let the machine do its work.
- It was lying loose and not stretched tight when the drawings were made.
- She also threw on a pair of black slacks that stretched tight over her thin legs.
Synonyms
taut, rigid, stiff, tense, stretched, strained, stressed
2.1(Of part of the body) feeling painful and constricted as a result of anxiety or illness: there was a tight feeling in his gut...
- Every muscle in his body was tight, and Rion had wondered if he'd frozen like that.
- Early on after my coma the muscles in my body were incredibly tight.
- She was shaking, her body was tight and her eyes were practically bleeding.
2.2(Of appearance or manner) tense, irritated, or angry: she gave him a tight smile...
- I turned to look at her and she gave me a tight, angry smile.
- He gives a tough, tight smile as he contemplates his boyhood self, and you can almost hear the schoolchildren of Glasgow breathe a sigh of relief.
- In his tight, angry face we see a lifetime of struggles and disappointments.
2.3(Of a rule or form of control) strictly imposed: security was tight at yesterday’s ceremony...
- Security chiefs have decided to impose tight controls to prevent terrorists from slipping into the country.
- The peasantry in 1300 were living in a world where land was scarce and opportunities for economic advancement were limited by the tight controls of the landowners.
- The US has since pursued a systematic policy aimed at keeping the UN under tight control.
Synonyms
strict, rigorous, stringent, tough, rigid, firm, uncompromising, exacting, systematic, meticulous, painstaking, scrupulous
2.4(Of a written work or form) concise, condensed, or well structured: a tight argument...
- I feel this provides the skills to write tight, clear, and concise papers.
- It was also necessary to learn how to program incredibly efficiently and write extraordinarily tight code.
- It's a good, tight, well written speech will lauds us all for showing up.
Synonyms
succinct, economic, pithy, crisp, straightforward, concise, condensed, well structured, laconic, terse, to the point, summary, short and sweet, in a few well-chosen words
rare compendious, epigrammatic, synoptic, aphoristic, gnomic
2.5(Of an organization or group of people) disciplined or well coordinated: the vocalists are strong and the band is tight...
- Word spread in the Southwest about the Augusta Futurity's tight organization and added prize money.
- A tight and disciplined band they are driven by the skills of drummer Rob Townsend.
- ‘With Zidane coming back, France will play a tight midfield to allow him to be free and do his own thing,’ he noted.
3(Of an area or space) having or allowing little room for manoeuvre: a tight parking spot it was a tight squeeze in the tiny vestibule...
- Triumph engineers believed that women were unable to park or manoeuvre in tight spaces and so the car had to be able to turn on a sixpence.
- The steering is light and makes the Fabia very easy to place and manoeuvre around tight spaces.
- Steering is very light and the car is surprisingly flexible; the turning circle is quite tight, making it easy to manoeuvre in tight spaces once you've got used to the size.
Synonyms
small, tiny, narrow, compact, poky, limited, restricted, confined, cramped, constricted, uncomfortable, minimal, sparse, inadequate
rare strait, incommodious
3.1(Of a bend, turn, or angle) changing direction sharply; having a short radius: the coach failed to negotiate the tight bend...
- These bends were so tight that only short, relatively ineffective nets could be used.
- They will also be racing on the wider expanses of a course that offers a much fairer test of ability than the tight turns and short straight at the Valley.
- A useful escape tactic to a prey is to initiate a turn before predator closure and rely on a tight turn radius for escape.
3.2(Of money or time) limited or restricted: David was out of work and money was tight an ability to work to tight deadlines...
- If money is tight and restricting you from having the flowers you dream of then why not consider making your own bouquet.
- ‘We know money is tight, but a contribution would let the veterans know they were remembered,’ said Bob.
- Money was tight; he couldn't afford the trips on his salary as a counselor at St. Petersburg College.
Synonyms
scarce, scanty, scant, skimpy, meagre, sparse;
reduced, depleted, diminished, low, in short supply, limited;
deficient, inadequate, insufficient
4(Of a formation or group) closely or densely packed together: he levered the bishop out from a tight knot of clerical wives...
- They held together and went down the street in tight formation, flanked by cops on all sides.
- Gophers clump their mounds together in tight groups, and these are flatter and fan-shaped with off-center holes.
- We stayed together in a tight group as we approached the house.
4.1(Of a community or other group of people) having close relations; tight-knit: New York’s tight Orthodox Jewish community the folk were far too tight to let anyone know...
- This tight community is reflected in the organization and the fans that come out to games.
- For all that has happened to him, he is still the product of his background, still the son of a tight community.
- After World War II, the original incentives to remain a tight community faded away.
5(Of a game or contest) with evenly matched competitors; very close: he won in a tight finish...
- And last season excepted, veteran Robert Horry knows how to produce in tight games and the postseason.
- His willingness to handle the scoring burden in tight games was another sign of his maturity.
- There isn't a quarterback in the league you'd rather have going for you in the fourth quarter of a tight game.
Synonyms
close, even, evenly matched, well matched;
hard-fought, neck and neck
6British informal Not willing to spend or give much money; mean: he is tight with his money
Synonyms
mean, miserly, parsimonious, niggardly, close-fisted, penny-pinching, cheese-paring, penurious, Scrooge-like, ungenerous, illiberal, close
informal stingy, mingy, tight-fisted
North American informal cheap
vulgar slang tight-arsed
archaic near
7 [predicative] informal Drunk: he got tight on brandy
adverb
Very firmly, closely, or tensely: he went downstairs, holding tight to the bannisters...
- But this one made his jaw clench tight and his teeth rattle a bit.
- Silhouette clenched her fists and shut her eyes tight.
- Shut your eyes tight and try dancing in absolute darkness, with just the sound of anklets and the music to lead you on.
Phrases
run a tight ship
a tight corner (or spot or place)
Origin
Middle English (in the sense 'healthy, vigorous', later 'firm, solid'): probably an alteration of thight 'firm, solid', later 'close-packed, dense', of Germanic origin; related to German dicht 'dense, close'.
In early medieval times to call someone tight meant that they were healthy or vigorous. The senses we know today came along later, and it was not until the early to mid 19th century that the informal meanings ‘stingy’ and ‘drunk’ appeared. See also tick. A ‘tight ship’ was originally one in which ropes were tightly fastened. From this came the sense of a ship under firm discipline and control—which gives us the expression run a tight ship. Tights are predominantly a women's garment, but they started life as tight-fitting breeches worn by men in the 18th and early 19th centuries. Dancers and acrobats then favoured them, before the first references to women's tights in the 1890s.