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Glite Dictionary
🧥 A restraining jacket ⛓️ A severe limit
straitjacket

straitjacket

15 7.8
A strong jacket with long sleeves tied to stop someone moving their arms
  • noun
  • /ˈstreɪtˌdʒækɪt/
translation icon : camisa de fuerza
  • In the movie, the escape artist was tied up in a straitjacket as part of his daring act.
  • wear a straitjacket
  • escape from a straitjacket
  • put in a straitjacket

Examples

  • Took four men just to put him into the straitjacket.

    Good Guys Wear Black (1978)

  • If you keep it up, I'm gonna have to put you in a straitjacket.

    Changeling (2008)

  • Get her in a straitjacket and lock her in her room.

    The Ward (2010)

  • I imagine it is hard to type with a straitjacket on, crazy.

    Blog text (22)

  • This man should be in a straitjacket.

    The Producers (1968)

  • I will need to be put in a straitjacket if anything like that happens during the debates.

    Blog text (30)

  • Oh, he got to shooting his mouth off about his new invention, and the next thing you know, they took him away in a straitjacket.

    No Such Thing (2002)

  • The white coats wrestle him into a straitjacket.

    Fiction book (1997)

  • If you've never been in a state mental hospital in a straitjacket, I wouldn't recommend one, especially not the one I was in, in the Midwest.

    Melinda and Melinda (2004)

  • The doctor carefully placed the patient in a straitjacket to prevent any harm during the episode.

Synonyms

straightjacket
vsstraitjacket
  • US
6 8.3

A strong jacket with long sleeves tied behind the back to stop someone moving their arms

ties the sleeves together to bind the arms rather than behind the back

Antonyms

freedom
∞ 1.0

The right to act, speak, or think as you want without being stopped

liberation
127 3.9

The act of setting people free from control or unfair treatment

How Restrictive

straitjacket
15 7.8
irons
  • Archaic
3 7.7
manacle
5 8.6
restraint
73 4.7

Surface Forms

straitjacket singular
straitjackets plural

Morphology

straitjacket = strait + jacket (semi-transparent) = strait + jacket

The literal sense is clearly a compound 'strait' + 'jacket' meaning a tight, restraining jacket, but 'strait' is less common and often confused with 'straight', which reduces immediate recognizability for learners.

Etymology

The word straitjacket comes from strait meaning 'tight' or 'narrow' and jacket meaning 'coat'. It originally meant a 'tight coat' with long sleeves that could be tied to hold a person's arms and prevent them from hurting themselves or others.