Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun The state of being taut; tightness; tenseness.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun the property of being taut

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun lack of movement or room for movement
  • noun the physical condition of being stretched or strained

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

taut +‎ -ness

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Examples

  • There were marks of fatigue on his face, and that kind of tautness shown by a man driven to the edge of endurance, perhaps beyond.

    Year of the Unicorn Norton, Andre 1965

  • The steaming water took some of the tautness out of her muscles, and after she poured shampoo on her hair, she massaged her scalp with deep pressure from her fingertips.

    I’ll Walk Alone Mary Higgins Clark 2011

  • Behold the tautness of my thighs, he seems to be saying.

    Manon – review 2011

  • He smiled briefly, the movement accentuating the tautness of his mouth.

    Western Man Janet Dailey 2011

  • He smiled briefly, the movement accentuating the tautness of his mouth.

    Western Man Janet Dailey 2011

  • This studio recording with the same cast and orchestra had been made immediately beforehand, and the dramatic tautness that was such a feature of the live event comes across vividly on disc.

    Donizetti: Maria di Rohan – review 2011

  • But one would like to know still more about the extended back-and-forth that resulted in the shattering tautness of "A Perfect Day for Bananafish."

    Kenneth Slawenski's biography of J.D. Salinger 2011

  • The steaming water took some of the tautness out of her muscles, and after she poured shampoo on her hair, she massaged her scalp with deep pressure from her fingertips.

    'I'll Walk Alone' 2011

  • But one would like to know still more about the extended back-and-forth that resulted in the shattering tautness of "A Perfect Day for Bananafish."

    Kenneth Slawenski's biography of J.D. Salinger 2011

  • ★ Depending upon variety of conditions, the stretch canvas may periodically lose and regain tautness, much like Charlie Crist periodically loosens or regains positions on a variety of issues.

    Florida GOP puts Charlie Crist painting on eBay 2010

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