Straight means without bends or deviation. Strait means narrow or constricted — a strait of water, a straitjacket, dire straits. The correct spelling is straitjacket, from the tight-fitting sense, though straightjacket is now so common that dictionaries record it.
The core difference
Homophones, and the less familiar one owns several fixed phrases.
- straight — without bends: a straight line, straight answer.
- strait — narrow, constricted: the Strait of Gibraltar, straitjacket, dire straits, straitened circumstances.
The phrases to know
Dire straits means a difficult situation — narrow passages with no room to manoeuvre. Straitened circumstances means financial hardship, from being constricted. Strait-laced means morally rigid, from tightly laced clothing. All four take strait, and all four are commonly misspelled.
The root
Strait is from Latin strictus, drawn tight — the same root as strict and restrict. Recognising that family fixes the meaning: strait is about tightness, not directness.
