strait

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noun

Synonyms of strait next

: a comparatively narrow passageway connecting two large bodies of water

—often used in plural but singular in construction

: isthmus

archaic : a narrow space or passage

: a situation of perplexity or distress

—often used in plural

in dire straits

strait

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adjective

ˈstrāt

: causing distress : difficult

: limited as to means or resources

archaic : strict, rigorous

archaic

: narrow

: limited in space or time

: closely fitting : constricted, tight

straitly adverb

straitness noun

strait

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Did you know?

strait or straight?

Straight and strait are homophones (“one of two or more words pronounced alike but different in meaning or derivation or spelling”), and many people are in the habit of confusing such creatures, particularly when used in fixed phrases. If you express no emotion you have a straight face; an upright person is a straight shooter; a straight flush is “a poker hand containing five cards of the same suit in sequence.” However, if you find yourself in a difficult situation you are in dire straits. Straitjacket and straitlaced are the more commonly used forms for the restrictive garment and the “strict in manners” adjective, although straightjacket and straightlaced are also occasionally found.

Choose the Right Synonym for strait

juncture, exigency, emergency, contingency, pinch, strait (or straits) crisis mean a critical or crucial time or state of affairs.

juncture stresses the significant concurrence or convergence of events.

an important juncture in our country's history

exigency stresses the pressure of restrictions or urgency of demands created by a special situation.

provide for exigencies

emergency applies to a sudden unforeseen situation requiring prompt action to avoid disaster.

the presence of mind needed to deal with emergencies

contingency implies an emergency or exigency that is regarded as possible but uncertain of occurrence.

contingency plans

pinch implies urgency or pressure for action to a less intense degree than exigency or emergency.

come through in a pinch

strait, now commonly straits, applies to a troublesome situation from which escape is extremely difficult.

in dire straits

crisis applies to a juncture whose outcome will make a decisive difference.

a crisis of confidence

Example Sentences

Noun Her campaign is in desperate straits. The company is in desperate financial straits. The economy is in dire straits.

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

The Georgia passed through the strait into the Persian Gulf in January submerged, when Iranian forces photographed it underwater. —

Kyle Mizokami, Popular Mechanics, 14 May 2021 It is estimated that just under half the world’s container ships passed through the strait during the last seven months, and 88 percent of the largest of these ships. —

Milton Ezrati, Forbes, 2 Jan. 2023 The animation consists of images acquired by NASA’s Aqua satellite as ice was flushed out through the strait between April 19 and May 11. —

Tom Yulsman, Discover Magazine, 13 June 2019 But almost all iPhones are assembled just across the strait in China. —

Chris Miller, The Atlantic, 28 Dec. 2022 The state of war with the mainland was constant; sometimes the two sides shelled each other across the strait. —

Dexter Filkins, The New Yorker, 14 Nov. 2022 More than halfway across the strait, the seas became so choppy that the captain of her support boat started to get nervous for his vessel. —

Kate Siber, Outside Online, 5 Dec. 2017 The Bering Sea is part of the North Pacific Ocean south of the Bering Strait that separates Alaska from Russia, while the Chukchi Sea is part of the Arctic Ocean just north of the strait. —

Yereth Rosen, Anchorage Daily News, 30 Nov. 2022 Further north, lands near the Torres Strait Islands—there are at least 274 in the strait between Australia and New Guinea—were returned to Torres Strait Islanders of Aboriginal, Melanesian, and Australian background last year. —

Cnt Editors, Condé Nast Traveler, 29 Nov. 2022

Adjective

Tamera lives with reserved, strait-laced, well-to-do Ray Bampbell (Tim Reid) and Tia with earthy, mouthy, pushy, jobless Lisa Landr (Jackee Harry). —

Ed Stockly, Los Angeles Times, 24 Aug. 2022 Song recently took over as head of TAO, the Chinese government’s department for handling cross-strait affairs. —

Bloomberg News, Bloomberg.com, 10 Feb. 2023 However, few analysts see an imminent threat of cross-strait conflict within this third term. —

Rhoda Kwan, NBC News, 16 Oct. 2022 Now, with a war raging in Europe and deteriorating cross-strait relations, she’s begun looking into medical training and browsing war survival manuals. —

Stephanie Yang, Los Angeles Times, 3 Mar. 2022 Cross-strait tensions are at their highest since the 1996 Taiwanese presidential elections, when China conducted a series of missile tests just before the polls. —

Time Staff, Time, 4 Jan. 2023 One in particular involved the famous Appleton-native Harry Houdini, who suspended himself upside down in a strait jacket above the intersection of 4th and State streets in 1916. —

Ricardo Torres, Journal Sentinel, 7 Jan. 2023 What would set them apart from their strait-laced European counterparts now? —

Hazlitt, 20 Dec. 2022 The cars from Kenosha came with reclining seats, not for driving but for sleeping, and this seemed to give reclining seats a bad name forever in the strait-laced American heartland. —

David E. Davis Jr., Car and Driver, 12 Jan. 2023 See More

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'strait.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.