Uptight

//ʌpˈtaɪt// adj, noun, slang

adj, noun, slang ·Moderate ·High school level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    An uptight person. colloquial
Adjective
  1. 1
    Excessively concerned with rules and order, always serious. colloquial

    "Don't be so uptight! You won't go to jail for crossing the street against the light."

  2. 2
    Emotionally repressed; nervous and tense.
  3. 3
    Sexually repressed. colloquial

    "He came from a very uptight religious background, but you wouldn't know that now!"

  4. 4
    Unfriendly or rude. colloquial

    "Withnail: Just because the best tailoring you’ve ever seen is above your fucking appendix doesn’t mean anything. / Danny: Don’t get uptight with me, man."

Adjective
  1. 1
    being in a tense state wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
accordantanalangrybourgeoiscompulsiveconcordant

Example

More examples

"You're ways too uptight about sex."

Related phrases

anal retentive

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