tight-assed en · ADJ
Meanings
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(derogatory, informal) Rigidly maintaining self-control; restricting oneself to generally accepted rules and behaviours.
A group of pedestrians waited on the corner opposite for the lights to change even though there was no traffic coming in either direction. After watching them for a while Hoffmann muttered savagely, ‘The goddam tight-assed Swiss...’
2011, Robert Harris, chapter 4, in The Fear Index, London: Hutchinson, pages 63–64:This noncritical atmosphere works for us because the three of us are so tight assed about revealing our emotions.
1991, Douglas Coupland, Generation X, New York: St. Martin's Press, →OCLC, page 14:Assemblyperson Baker, as she probably liked to be addressed, had all the lyricism and sensuality of Betty Crocker. She was so tight-assed that she even wore stockings in the tropics.
1982, Patricia Burstein, chapter 12, in Family Holiday,, New York: William Morrow, page 182:
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(derogatory, informal) Excessively concerned with unimportant details; obsessively precise.
[…] Gottlieb obviously wishes, above all else in life, that he could turn himself into that miserable don and learn to write his spiteful-playful tight-assed vinegar prose.
1964, Christopher Isherwood, A Single Man, London: Minerva, published 1991, page 62:It was a typical old brownstone, built in the fifties and since then maintained with tight-assed economy—a little paint every year, a new lock on the door, perhaps a new piece of plumbing here and there as the old rusted out.
1998, Debra Di Blasi, “Prayers of an Accidental Nature”, in Prayers of an Accidental Nature: Stories, Minneapolis: Coffee House Press, page 178:
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(derogatory, informal) Reluctant to spend money.
Cuddles is the one in the money. Ain’t tight-assed about it either, which is why we hang together.
1991, Melvin Dixon, Vanishing Rooms,, New York: Dutton, page 28:We have learned how—what do you call it?—tight-assed the white man is with his money.
1971, James Schevill, Lovecraft’s Follies, Chicago: Swallow Press, Act I, Scene 3, p. 45:
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(informal) Having firm or clenched buttocks.
2015, Kimberli A. Bindschatel, Operation Tropical Affair, Traverse City, MI: Turning Leaf, Chapter 8, p. 78, We could pop down to the Caymans. Drink some margaritas, watch those tight-assed college boys play beach volleyball.
He had an eagle tattooed on his chest, a tight-assed, narrow-hipped swagger, and a reputation for having fast hands and clever fingers.
1994, Janet Evanovich, chapter 1, in One for the Money, New York: St. Martin’s Griffin, page 3:
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(informal, of an article of) Fitting tightly in the area covering the buttocks.
The waiters were all beautiful Portuguese Nancy boys dressed in tight French sailor suits—striped shirts, tight-assed bell bottoms, a blue cap with a red pompadour—and reeking of delectably cheap perfume.
2012, Robert Littell, chapter 8, in Young Philby,, New York: Thomas Dunne Books, page 164:1967, Wright Morris, In Orbit, Chapter 6, in Two for the Road, Santa Rosa: Black Sparrow Press, 1994, p. 264, There is no room in his tight-assed pants for his dangling hands.
[…] the women wore hot pants and halter tops and tight-assed skirts.
1994, George Pelecanos, chapter 7, in Shoedog,, New York: St. Martin’s Press, page 56:
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| more tight-assed | Degree=Cmp | lexicographic | |
| tight-arsed | UK, alternative | lexicographic | |
| most tight-assed | Degree=Sup | lexicographic |
Antonyms
easy-going · relaxed · laid-back
Deriveds
Synonyms
stuffy · conservative · fastidious · fussy · repressed · conventional · tight-fisted · stingy · straight-laced · uptight · anal · nitpicky · punctilious · hair-splitting · miserly · finicky · inhibited