shut-in

American  

[shuht-in] / ˈʃʌtˌɪn /

adjective

1. confined to one's home, a hospital, etc., as from illness.

2. Psychiatry. disposed to desire solitude; withdrawn; asocial.

3. (of an oil or gas well) temporarily sealed up.

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noun

1. a person confined by infirmity or disease to the house, a hospital, etc.

2. Also called shut-in well.  an oil or gas well that has been closed down.

shut-in British  

noun

1. 1. a person confined indoors by illness

   2. ( as modifier )

      a shut-in patient

2. psychiatry a condition in which the person is highly withdrawn and unable to express his own feelings See also schizoid

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Etymology

Origin of shut-in

1840–50, adj., noun use of verb phrase shut in

Example Sentences

“But if wells are shut-in for a prolonged period, restarting production to full output could take weeks or even longer.”

From MarketWatch • Mar. 10, 2026

But I took deep pride in getting out in the world with a body that I feared was going to eventually reach shut-in status.

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 3, 2026

The units, situated 5 to 9 miles from Santa Barbara County’s coastline, were shut-in after a corroded pipeline released nearly 3,000 barrels of oil in 2015.

From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 27, 2025

There are even flashes of Grace, the lonely shut-in mother of two in “The Others,” whose belief that her house is haunted causes her slow descent into madness.

From Salon • Mar. 27, 2025

I have that late-shift shut-in feeling that there’s no world beyond the doors, no problem greater than the mystery items remaining at the bottom of my cart.

From "Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America" by Barbara Ehrenreich

Related Words

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