tight-lipped
"tight-lipped" is a 11-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“tight-lipped” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as an adjective. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 12
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Having the lips pressed tightly together, hence, not speaking.
Corpus desk
Index EN-tight-lipped · tight-lipped · English
tight-lipped · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-MEGA 12 letters
- VOW-3 3 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "T" thin
- PHOTO-UNK Peer pending
Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern
Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | tight-lipped |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| Letters | 12 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “tight-lipped” in English
Rare enough to double-check
tight-lipped is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anadjective. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.
The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for tight-lipped, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. This entry stands alone in our confusable dataset, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.
Etymologically, the entry records: From tight + lipped. The correct English form is tight-lipped, spelled T-I-G-H-T---L-I-P-P-E-D.
Definition
- 1Having the lips pressed tightly together, hence, not speaking.
- 2Unwilling to divulge information.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how tight-lipped appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
He would have sprung upon Captain Blood, who stood aloof, alert, tight-lipped, and watchful.
Gaining the dak, they were joined on the veranda by four tight-lipped men.
Etymology
From tight + lipped.
Synonyms
Antonyms
This word in other languages
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.