taut

C1 Topic:Describing Qualities

US /tɔt/ UK /tɔːt/ See IPA manual

Homophones

taught /tɔt/

Minimal pairs

Sounds like thought /θ/ vs /t/

Freq #31964

Meanings

1

adj
Stretched or pulled tight, with no slack.

The rope was taut between the two poles.
2

adj
Firm and toned, not loose or flabby.

Years of swimming had given her a taut, athletic body.
3

adj
Tense or strained with anxiety.

Her face was taut with worry as she waited for the results.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 adj · stretched or pulled tight,... tight stretched tense

3 adj · tense or strained with... strained tense

More nonslackstrict tensioned

Opposites

flaccidfloppylank lax limp loose lush relaxed sagging slackuntaut

Word family

Forms tautertautest

Derived forms tauten tautly tautness

Related forms stressed

Simplified etymology

Taut is a Middle English word related to the Old English word tough. An early spelling of taut was tought.

Etymology

The adjective is derived from Middle English taught [and other forms], Early Middle English tohte, towehte (“strained, stretched; distended; tight; firm”), probably from tough, touth, touʒth, toʒt (“powerful, strong; fierce, violent; not tender, tough; hardy, resilient; steadfast, stout; difficult to do or endure”) and possibly influenced by togen, towen, past participle of ten (“to extend, stretch out; to drag, haul, pull, tow, tug”) (modern English tee (“(obsolete) to draw, lead; to draw away; to go, proceed”)), or directly from its etymon Old English tēon (“to drag, draw, pull”) (ultimately…

*dewk- Proto-Indo-European taught Middle English tohte Middle English tēon Old English

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Describing Qualities

External links

# taut

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C1
**Part of speech:** adj
**IPA (US):** /tɔt/
**IPA (UK):** /tɔːt/
**Frequency rank:** 31964

## Meanings
1. Stretched or pulled tight, with no slack.
2. Firm and toned, not loose or flabby.
3. Tense or strained with anxiety.

## Examples
- The rope was taut between the two poles.
- Years of swimming had given her a taut, athletic body.
- Her face was taut with worry as she waited for the results.

## Synonyms
- nonslack
- strained
- stretched
- strict
- tense
- tensioned
- tight

## Antonyms
- flaccid
- floppy
- lank
- lax
- limp
- loose
- lush
- relaxed
- sagging
- slack
- untaut

## Derived Forms
- tauten
- tautly
- tautness

## Related Forms
- stressed

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: *dewk-
- Root: taught
- Root: tohte
- Root: tēon

## Etymology
The adjective is derived from Middle English taught [and other forms], Early Middle English tohte, towehte (“strained, stretched; distended; tight; firm”), probably from tough, touth, touʒth, toʒt (“powerful, strong; fierce, violent; not tender, tough; hardy, resilient; steadfast, stout; difficult to do or endure”) and possibly influenced by togen, towen, past participle of ten (“to extend, stretch out; to drag, haul, pull, tow, tug”) (modern English tee (“(obsolete) to draw, lead; to draw away; to go, proceed”)), or directly from its etymon Old English tēon (“to drag, draw, pull”) (ultimately…

## AI Etymology
The adjective taut is derived from Middle English taught [and other forms], Early Middle English tohte, towehte (“strained, stretched; distended; tight; firm”), probably from tough, touth, touʒth, toʒt (“powerful, strong; fierce, violent; not tender, tough; hardy, resilient; steadfast, stout; difficult to do or endure”) and possibly influenced by togen, towen, past participle of ten (“to extend, stretch out; to drag, haul, pull, tow, tug”) (modern English tee (“(obsolete) to draw, lead; to draw away; to go, proceed”)), or directly from its etymon Old English tēon (“to drag, draw, pull”) (ultimately… In present-day use, it can mean stretched or pulled tight, with no slack, or firm and toned, not loose or flabby.

## Topics
- Describing Qualities

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