Definition of "uptight" []

• Slang Tense; nervous. (adjective)
• Slang Financially pressed; destitute. (adjective)
• Slang Outraged; angry. (adjective)
• Slang Rigidly conventional, as in manners, opinions, and tastes: "She sees this headlong, headstrong, plunge into worldliness as a protracted process of shucking the shame of her uptight upbringing” ( James Wolcott). (adjective)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "SALT LAKE CITY — Thousands of people stripped to their underwear and ran through Salt Lake City to protest what they called the "uptight" laws of Utah."
• "He's pleased that it's his customers who have voted for him and his team, rather than some shabby crew of critics; he's delighted that it justifies four years of very hard work; thrilled for what it says about his conviction that top flight, big-fisted food doesn't have to be served in uptight, prissy, overly formal surroundings."
• "Where I get a little uptight is when I think about the current job hunt … and I’m told I don’t have enough experience."