ENGLISH
REFERENCE

tight

adj.
B1 Intermediate Oxford US //ˈtaɪt// UK //tˈaɪt// tight Archaic General-service Informal Slang Vulgar

adj. fitting very closely to your body or having very little extra space. It can also describe a situation where there is not much time or money left.

adj. fitting closely or firmly to the surface of an object; having little or no slack or extra space. Often used figuratively to describe restricted resources or high-pressure schedules.


SIMPLE

These new shoes are a bit too tight.

CONTEXTUAL

The team is on a tight schedule and must finish the project by Friday afternoon.

COMPLEX

While the athlete preferred a tight fit for aerodynamic reasons, the restrictive fabric eventually caused discomfort during the final stages of the marathon.

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Etymology 1

From Middle English tight, tyght, tyȝt, tiht, variants of thight, thiht, from Old English þiht, þīht (attested in meteþiht), from Proto-West Germanic þį̄ht(ī), from Proto-Germanic þinhtaz, from Proto-Indo-European tenkt- (“dense, thick, tight”), from Proto-Indo-European ten- (“to stretch, pull”). Cognate with Scots ticht, West Frisian ticht, Danish tæt, Icelandic þéttur (“dense”), Norwegian tett, Swedish tät, Dutch dicht (“dense”), German dicht (“dense”). The current form with t- /t/ rather than etymologically-expected th- /θ/ arose in Middle English under the influence of the etymologically-unrelated verbs tighten and tight, which come from a different Proto-Indo-European root (starting with *d- and thus regularly having t-).

Etymology 2

From Middle English tighten, thyhten (“to make tight”); see tighten.

Usage

Commonly used with 'fit' or 'schedule'; can also describe a close competition ('a tight race').

Pitfall

The dress fits tightlyThe dress is tightLearners often use the adverb 'tightly' to describe the state of clothing, but the adjective 'tight' is required after a linking verb like 'is' or 'feels'.

Idioms6 entries

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