Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • adjective Tense; nervous.
  • adjective Rigidly conventional, as in manners, opinions, and tastes.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adjective colloquial Excessively concerned with rules and order.
  • adjective colloquial Sexually repressed.
  • adjective colloquial Unfriendly and rude.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • adjective being in a tense state

Etymologies

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Examples

  • SALT LAKE CITY — Thousands of people stripped to their underwear and ran through Salt Lake City to protest what they called the "uptight" laws of Utah.

    Utah Undie Run: Thousands Strip In Salt Like CIty In Protest Of Conservative Laws The Huffington Post News Editors 2011

  • He's pleased that it's his customers who have voted for him and his team, rather than some shabby crew of critics; he's delighted that it justifies four years of very hard work; thrilled for what it says about his conviction that top flight, big-fisted food doesn't have to be served in uptight, prissy, overly formal surroundings.

    Best UK Restaurant 2010: The Kitchin, Edinburgh Jay Rayner 2010

  • Where I get a little uptight is when I think about the current job hunt … and I’m told I don’t have enough experience.

    TeeMorris.com » 2009 » March 2009

  • Where I get a little uptight is when I think about the current job hunt … and I’m told I don’t have enough experience.

    TeeMorris.com » Blog Archive » Stranger on a Train I 2009

  • Get Susan May Pratt aka the uptight dancer from Centre Stage! back to the tanning salon stat.

    Waterlogged Glenn Dunks 2010

  • And the straight-and-narrow (aka uptight) sibling gets so upset at the unfairness (in their mind) of sibling #2 not getting "punished" for forging their own path, that they feel compelled to point out the "wrongs" every time they're in the same room.

    Home Again, Home Again! Zombie Mom 2009

  • If you're a fan of the TV hit series "Six Feet Under," you certainly do, Michael C. Hall, best known as the uptight undertaker David Fisher.

    CNN Transcript Aug 2, 2002 2002

  • Nakamura even gives them a bit of an Odd Couple twist: Buddha is frugal and kind of uptight; Jesus goes with the flow.

    License request day: Saint Young Men 2009

  • Nakamura even gives them a bit of an Odd Couple twist: Buddha is frugal and kind of uptight; Jesus goes with the flow.

    16 « October « 2009 « The Manga Curmudgeon 2009

  • The first time I experienced being "uptight" was in tenth grade, when my older sister (a college sophomore) took me and my three girlfriends to see "Grease" at the Wang Center in Boston (wang! foreshadowing!)

    Giulia Rozzi: Nicola Briggs Is My Kinda Gal Giulia Rozzi 2010

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