Word.ws English Dictionary

How to use tight in a sentence

40 example sentences · adjective, adverb, verb

Tight means firmly held together; compact; not loose or open. Example: “Pull your seatbelts tight before takeoff.”

Examples of tight by meaning

adjectiveFirmly held together; compact; not loose or open.

  • a tight sponge; a tight knot
  • Pull your seatbelts tight before takeoff.

adjectiveUnyielding or firm.

  • tight control on a situation

adjectiveUnder high tension; taut.

  • Make sure to pull the rope tight.
  • The only negative from a comfortable first-half was the sight of Aston Villa’s Nathan Delfouneso being withdrawn with a tight hamstring after only 11 minutes.2011 November 10, Jeremy Wilson, “England Under 21 5 Iceland Under 21 0: match report”, in Telegraph
  • Global supply chains, meanwhile, have grown both tighter and more supple since the late 1990s—the result of improving information technology and of freer trade—making routine work easier to relocate.2011 July 25, Don Peck, “Can the Middle Class Be Saved?”, in The Atlantic

adjectiveScarce, hard to come by.

  • I grew up in a poor neighborhood; money was very tight, but we made do.
  • China’s currency, the jenminpi, has remained stable; the Chinese assert that it is the "world’s most stable currency." This is generally conceded to be the result of the care with which the Chinese economy and its tight budget are managed.1974, “Asia and the Pacific”, in Yearbook on International Communist Affairs 1974, Stanford, Cali.: Hoover Institution Press, →ISBN, →LCCN...

adjectiveIntimate, close, close-knit, intimately friendly.

  • We've grown tighter over the years.
  • The drawbacks of being in a too-tight couple (there's no room to blow your nose)1985 April 20, Julie Ogletree, “Festival: Variety and Limits”, in Gay Community News, page 8

adjectiveShort of money.

  • Your mom and I were pretty tight for cash and I thought what the heck, it could get us some quick money.2015, Melissa Pearl, Poker Face

adjectiveNarrow, such that it is difficult for something or someone to pass through it.

  • The passageway was so tight we could barely get through.
  • They flew in a tight formation.
  • England squeezed high and dominated the ball, penning Iceland back but the hosts kept the lines tight and it became clear that England would have to work for their openings.2020 September 5, David Hytner, “Raheem Sterling keeps his cool to see off Iceland amid blaze of late drama”, in The Guardian

adjectiveFitting close, or too close, to the body.

  • tight clothing; a tight coat; My socks are too tight.

More sentences with tight

  • Money's a little tight right now. Let's age our bills for a week or so.From the entry age
  • She installed a sturdy catch to keep her cabinets closed tight.From the entry catch
  • Since he put on weight, his jeans have been a tight fit.From the entry fit
  • He got him in a tight hold and pinned him to the mat.From the entry hold
  • I think I can thread my way through here, but it’s going to be tight.From the entry thread
  • I'm in a tight squeeze right now when it comes to my free time.From the entry squeeze
  • It was a tight squeeze, but I got through to the next section of the cave.From the entry squeeze
  • My son was able to squeeze in the tight crawl space to retrieve the cat.From the entry squeeze in
  • Because of the tighter bend, it's harder to run in an inside lane.From the entry inside
  • The Tiger quarterback took a one-step drop, expecting his tight end to be open.From the entry drop
  • My jeans are too tight, so I'm going on a diet.From the entry diet
  • Your feet will feel better once those tight boots are off.From the entry off
  • The pass was almost picked, but the tight end was able to hold on.From the entry pick
  • How can he be so prodigal with money on such a tight budget?From the entry prodigal
  • I am having very arousing thoughts about my gym trainer when he's in his tight shorts.From the entry arousing
  • The collar of this shirt is too tight; it’s choking me.From the entry choke
  • He lost his patience trying to undo his shoe-lace, but tugging it made the knot even tighter.From the entry tug
  • I'll be back in a few minutes, so sit tight while I go find her.From the entry sit tight
  • His lighthearted banjo performance was appreciated because it relieved the tension in tight situations.From the entry lighthearted
  • Grinding sometimes involves tight tolerances on the order of a few microns.From the entry grinding
  • The pilot pulled up hard into a tight loop and browned out, losing sight of the target.From the entry brown out
  • Hold tight to me: the bus is going round a sharp bend.From the entry hold tight
  • Hold tight, I will go and look for your orders in our back room.From the entry hold tight
  • We had a considerable tight scratch with about an equal number of the British.From the entry tight scratch
  • The copper roof panels were prebent to aid in creating a tight waterproof seal.From the entry prebent

Meaning of tight

  1. adjective Firmly held together; compact; not loose or open.
  2. adjective Unyielding or firm.
  3. adjective Under high tension; taut.

Full definition of tight

Questions about tight in a sentence

How do you use tight in a sentence?
Tight is used as an adjective, adverb and verb. For example: “Pull your seatbelts tight before takeoff.”
What is a short sentence with tight?
“tight control on a situation”
What does tight mean?
Tight means firmly held together; compact; not loose or open.

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: tight (page history and authors) and the entries each sentence comes from. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws chose the sentences, left out offensive ones and quotations older than 1900, and marked the word in each. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this page: “How to use tight in a sentence.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sentences/tight. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.