tight-assed

[ tahyt-ast ]

adjective

, Slang: Vulgar.

1. rigidly self-controlled, inhibited, or conservative in attitude.

Word History and Origins

Origin of tight-assed¹

First recorded in 1965–70

Example Sentences

“That’s good, Bull. But that tight-assed squid is going to have fun writing a conduct report on you that could end your career if I don’t figure out a way to stop it.”

From Literature

Then there are irritants purposefully written to be the heart of the comedy, annoyances that take the form of Jennifer Garner’s Kathryn McSorley-Jodell, who would be hilarious if she were surrounded by characters not so easily brought low by Kathryn’s tight-assed hold on every element of her world.

From Salon

“I was pretty tight-assed about being a pianist,” she recalled.

From The New Yorker

Image: Netflix Then there’s that insane scene in the final episode between the neglected Mrs. Wheeler and the psychopathic, tight-assed newcomer, Billy Hargrove.

From The Verge

When I hear him on his final album covering Rufus Wainwright’s “Going to a Town,” singing, “Tell me, do you really think you go to hell for having loved?” or Elton John’s “Idol,” singing “He was tight-assed/ Walking on broken glass/ Highly prized in the wallet size/ The No. 1 crush in a schoolgirl’s eyes,” I drink in how beautifully he sings those lines.

From Slate