straiten C2+ Topic:Describing Qualities US /ˈstreɪtən/ UK /ˈstreɪtən/ See IPA manual Meanings 1 verb to make narrow, or to restrict, especially financially The war years straitened the family's once-comfortable means. Thesaurus Synonyms 1 verb · to make narrow, or to... narrowrestrictconstrictlimitconfineimpoverishconstrain ↔ Opposites widenbroadeneaseloosenliberate Word family Derived forms straitened Related forms strait Etymology AI details From the adjective 'strait' (narrow, via Old French 'estreit', from Latin 'strictus', drawn tight, from 'stringere', to bind) plus the verb-forming suffix '-en'. strictus Latin stringere Latin View etymology graph -> Topics Describing Qualities Word Formation & Derivatives External links Cambridge Dictionary Wiktionary Google Images # straiten **Type:** Word **Level:** C2+ **Part of speech:** verb **IPA (US):** /ˈstreɪtən/ **IPA (UK):** /ˈstreɪtən/ ## Meanings 1. to make narrow, or to restrict, especially financially ## Examples - The war years straitened the family's once-comfortable means. ## Synonyms - narrow - restrict - constrict - limit - confine - impoverish - constrain ## Antonyms - widen - broaden - ease - loosen - liberate ## Derived Forms - straitened ## Related Forms - strait ## Roots and Affixes - Root: strictus - Root: stringere ## Etymology From the adjective 'strait' (narrow, via Old French 'estreit', from Latin 'strictus', drawn tight, from 'stringere', to bind) plus the verb-forming suffix '-en'. ## AI Etymology Straiten is from the adjective 'strait' (narrow, via Old French 'estreit', from Latin 'strictus', drawn tight, from 'stringere', to bind) plus the verb-forming suffix '-en'. Important recorded forms include strictus (Latin) and stringere (Latin). Morphologically, the word preserves a built structure whose named elements carry the historical sense into English. The modern sense continues the older lexical line without requiring a separate origin. In current use it covers to make narrow, or to restrict, especially financially. The wider family includes derived forms such as straitened and related words such as strait. ## Topics - Describing Qualities - Word Formation & Derivatives markdown