Meaning
Firmly held together; compact; not loose or open.
Etymology
Origin: Old English
From Middle English tight, tyght, tyȝt, tiht, variants of thight, thiht, from Old English *þiht, *þīht (attested in meteþiht), from Proto-West Germanic *þį̄ht(ī), from Proto-Germanic *þinhtaz, from Proto-Indo-European *tenkt- (“dense, thick, tight”), from Proto-Indo-European *ten- (“to stretch, pull”). Cognate with Scots ticht, West Frisian ticht, Danish tæt, Icelandic þéttur (“dense”), Norwegian tett, Swedish tät, Dutch dicht (“dense”), German dicht (“dense”). The current form with t- /t/ rather than etymologically-expected th- /θ/ arose in Middle English under the influence of the etymologically-unrelated verbs tighten and tight, which come from a different Proto-Indo-European root (starting with *d- and thus regularly having t-).
Synonyms & Antonyms
NYT Puzzle Appearances
Accepted in 19 recorded puzzles:
- 2026-08-12TEGHIWY
- 2026-05-09TAEGHIM
- 2026-01-15IDTGEHW
- 2025-05-27HYGTLIN
- 2025-01-25ITAMGEH
- 2025-01-05HTLGINA
- 2024-09-08HETIGNW
- 2024-07-25HDEGILT
- 2024-04-14HENIGMT
- 2024-03-14TNAIGBH
- 2024-02-21IFTHGLY
- 2024-01-25ICTHGNW
+7 earlier appearances in the archive.