adv ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Adverb

1. 1
   In a tight manner.

   "tightly clenched fingers"

2. 2
   Curtly in a way that suggests anger or other intense emotion is being contained.

Adverb

1. 1
   securely fixed or fastened wordnet
2. 2
   in a tight or constricted manner wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms

fastfastfastlyfirmfirmlytight

Antonyms

All antonyms

laxlyloosely

Example

More examples

"Before the horse race begins, the jockeys grip the reins tightly to restrain the impatient horses."

Etymology

From tight + -ly.

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.