Resources
Straighten/Straiten
The Straitened and Narrow
By Evan Jenkins
The author, his obituary said, had been reticent about his personal life but had told of growing up "in genteel but often straightened circumstances." Unless the point was that the family got the ironing done, the word the writer and editor wanted was "straitened." That is the past participle of "straiten," meaning to restrict or limit or narrow (think of "strait," a narrow body of water). It's a nice word in all its forms and can be applied to life in general, to the atmosphere of an institution, and much else. But the most commonly used form is the participle, and the most common meaning — as it was meant to be for the deceased author — is strapped for cash.
CJR
