uptight
/ʌpˈtaɪt/adjective, noun
uptight is spelled U-P-T-I-G-H-T: 7 letters and 2 syllables. It appears about once in every 1 million words in written English, the 33,636th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, uptight means “Excessively concerned with rules and order, always serious” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in uptight?
| Letters | 7: U-P-T-I-G-H-T |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 1 million words; the 33,636th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is uptight?
Uptight appears about once in every 1 million words in written English, the 33,636th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce uptight?
- /ʌpˈtaɪt/
Uptight has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-uptight.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Words people confuse with uptight
Also written: up-tight (one word or two).
Sources: English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
Forms of uptight
- uptighter comparative
- more uptight comparative
- uptightest superlative
- most uptight superlative
- uptights plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does uptight mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
colloquialExcessively concerned with rules and order, always serious.
Don't be so uptight! You won't go to jail for crossing the street against the light.
- 2
Emotionally repressed; nervous and tense.
- 3
colloquialSexually repressed.
He came from a very uptight religious background, but you wouldn't know that now!
- 4
colloquialUnfriendly or rude.
noun
- 1
colloquialAn uptight person.
[…] bunch of uptights who can be divided into two antagonistic factions: either they are gay and suffer from an excess of the fraternity spirit, or despite reaching middle-age they are still to be found fondling runaway teenagers […]
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Uptight in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense (colloquial) Excessively concerned with rules and order, always serious:
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.