What does uptight mean?
Word: Uptight
Part of Speech: Adjective
Meaning: Uptight means nervous, worried or tense, so that you cannot relax. Someone who is uptight may also be very strict about small things.
Synonyms: tense, nervous, anxious, edgy
How do you spell uptight?
Syllables: up - tight
Tricky part: Oxford Learner's writes uptight as one closed word, with no hyphen and no space, even though it is said as two clear beats with the stress on the second. Writing it as two words is the slip examiners see.
Watch out for: uptait, uptigt
Memory tip: Squeeze the two halves so tightly together that no gap or hyphen can fit between them, the way an uptight person feels squeezed and tense.
Uptight in a sentence
Example 1: Dad gets uptight whenever we are running late for the train.
Example 2: Try not to be uptight on exam day; you have practised enough.
Example 3: My cousin is so uptight about her new white shoes that nobody may stand near her.
Fun Fact
In 1960s American slang, uptight could also mean fine or excellent, and that is how Stevie Wonder used it in the title of his 1965 hit song. Today it almost always means tense.
Practise the CREST Way
Spell Probe
Find the misspelt word in the sentence and choose its meaning:
Before the inter-school quiz final, Kabir felt so uptite that he kept tapping his pencil, but his teammates soon calmed him with a joke about their mascot.
a) an animal or figure thought to bring a team luck
b) the last and most important round of a contest
c) anxious and on edge, unable to settle down
d) a person who plays on the same side as you
Show answer
c) anxious and on edge, unable to settle down. Uptite is the slip; spelt uptight, it is the word for being too tense to settle.
Sound Check
Which word does not rhyme with uptight?
a) delight
b) invite
c) freight
d) polite
Show answer
c) freight. Freight is said frayt, with the vowel of train, so it is the odd one out.
Word Puzzle
Match the words with the correct options:
1. uptight 2. ancient 3. gloomy a. cheerful b. relaxed c. modern
a) 1-b, 2-a, 3-c
b) 1-c, 2-b, 3-a
c) 1-b, 2-c, 3-a
d) 1-a, 2-c, 3-b
Show answer
c) 1-b, 2-c, 3-a. These are opposites: a relaxed person is the reverse of an uptight one, modern is the reverse of ancient, and cheerful the reverse of gloomy.
Jumble Tumble
Choose the correct sequence of the jumbled letters to form a meaningful word:
ghutpit 1234567
a) 5346127
b) 3546217
c) 3564127
d) 3546127
Show answer
d) 3546127. Following the code letter by letter gives the word for feeling tense.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. Which situation is most likely to leave someone feeling uptight?
a) eating a plate of hot pakoras at home
b) watching a funny film with friends
c) lying in a hammock on a holiday
d) waiting to go on stage for a solo song
Show answer
d) waiting to go on stage for a solo song
2. A friend says you are being uptight about one small spelling slip. What does she mean?
a) you ought to write a little more neatly
b) you should check your spelling once again
c) you have made a really serious mistake
d) you are worrying far more than you need to
Show answer
d) you are worrying far more than you need to
