TIGHTENS Synonyms: 14 Similar and Opposite Words

tightens

verb

present tense third-person singular of tighten

as in tenses

to draw tight tighten the straps on the backpack so that the load doesn't shift while hiking

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Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of tightens Drawing on existing generation without adding new supply tightens the market and can raise everyone else’s bills. — Mark Drapeau, Fortune, 25 Aug. 2026 What happens to real estate income, private equity valuations and public equity prices at the same time if the currency regime shifts, or if regional liquidity tightens for 18 months instead of 18 weeks? — Khalifa Aldhaheri, Forbes.com, 21 Aug. 2026 The organization said the changes are intended to keep its textile and leather labels compliant as the bloc tightens its restrictions on green claims. — Alexandra Harrell, Footwear News, 20 Aug. 2026 In Antonioni’s film, after a woman disappears during a boating vacation, her partner and her best friend travel around looking for her, while the bond between them tightens and their grip on the threads of certainty loosens. — Richard Brody, New Yorker, 19 Aug. 2026 With Sierra Canyon’s depth in the backfield, the room for error tightens for offenses. — Ethan Hanson, Daily News, 19 Aug. 2026 Indeed, more college graduates are accepting unpaid internships than at any point in the last decade as the entry-level job market tightens around them. — Dana Stephenson, Washington Post, 13 Aug. 2026 The order Johnson signed on Tuesday tightens air pollution control permit reviews, sets new noise rules, and requires a cross-departmental review of data center impacts on energy, water, and cumulative environmental and community effects. — Mikayla Price, CBS News, 11 Aug. 2026 If your voice tightens or your goodbye stretches out, an anxious child will pick up on it, according to expert guidance. — Ashley Lynch, Miami Herald, 10 Aug. 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for tightens

Verb

Breezily elegant in execution and at times even Hitchcockian, The Girlfriend is a delicious thriller that tenses up with each new scene and revelation.

— Declan Gallagher, Entertainment Weekly, 30 Jan. 2026

Definition of tenses

Verb

Cheeca Lodge & Spa Cheeca Lodge’s history stretches back to the late 1800s, but the property became a resort in 1946 when Clara May Downey purchased it and renamed it the Olney Inn.

— Miami Herald, Miami Herald, 25 Aug. 2026
The fire in the High Fens, which stretches across the border with Germany, is smoldering atop a much-bloodied battlefield where Nazis fought Allied troops.

— Sam McNeil, Los Angeles Times, 24 Aug. 2026

Definition of stretches

Browse Nearby Words

tightening

tightens

tightfisted

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“Tightens.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/tightens. Accessed 28 Aug. 2026.

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Synonyms of tightens

verb

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