highfalutin

or high·fa·lu·tin', hi·fa·lu·tin, hi·fa·lu·tin'

[ hahy-fuh-loot-n ]
See synonyms for highfalutin on Thesaurus.com
adjectiveInformal.
  1. seeming or trying to seem superior, important, etc.; pompous; pretentious.

Origin of highfalutin

1
First recorded in 1830–40; high + falutin (perhaps originally flutin, variant of fluting, present participle of flute)
  • Also high·fa·lu·ting [hahy-fuh-loo-ting, hahy-fuh-loot-n] /ˌhaɪ fəˈlu tɪŋ, ˌhaɪ fəˈlut n/ .

Words Nearby highfalutin

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use highfalutin in a sentence

  • Beyond Human Nature succeeds by delivering serious arguments that challenge the reader without seeming dense or highfalutin.

  • He's the only one of these fellows I've tackled who didn't tell me a lot of highfalutin rot they wanted put into the article.

    A Hoosier Chronicle | Meredith Nicholson
  • He hated the "highfalutin" bearing of these "furriners," who carried their chins aloft like masters of creation.

    The Code of the Mountains | Charles Neville Buck
  • "An' you, Em, look more highfalutin' than a peacock," he replied.

    The Emerald City of Oz | L. Frank Baum
  • Often he alluded to the opening for an American magazine, "not quite so highfalutin as the Atlantic nor so popular as Harper's."

    Marse Henry (Vol. 1) | Henry Watterson
  • I stuck to my colors—that's a highfalutin way of putting it—and I've got to pay the penalty.

    Nell, of Shorne Mills | Charles Garvice

British Dictionary definitions for highfalutin

highfalutin

hifalutin highfaluting

/ (ˌhaɪfəˈluːtɪn) /


adjective
  1. informal pompous or pretentious

Origin of highfalutin

1
C19: from high + -falutin, perhaps variant of fluting, from flute

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012