haughty
Americanadjective
-
disdainfully proud; scornfully arrogant; snobbish; supercilious: a haughty salesclerk.
haughty aristocrats;
a haughty salesclerk.
- Synonyms:
- contemptuous, disdainful, lordly
- Antonyms:
- unassuming, unpretentious, humble
-
Archaic. lofty or noble; exalted.
adjective
-
having or showing arrogance
-
archaic noble or exalted
Related Words
See proud.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of haughty
First recorded in 1520–30; obsolete haught (spelling variant of late Middle English haute, from Middle French, from Latin altus “high,” with h-, from Germanic; compare Old High German hok “high”) + -y 1
Explanation
Someone who is haughty is arrogant and full of pride. When you're haughty, you have a big attitude and act like you're better than other people. A haughty person acts superior and looks down on others. Haughty people are disdainful, overbearing, prideful, swaggering, and obnoxious. Acting amazed that others haven't heard of a hot new band is haughty. Speaking in a cocky or superior way is haughty. The word even sounds a little like its meaning: it's hard to say haughty without sounding like you have an attitude. If you're acting like others are beneath you, you're being haughty.
Vocabulary lists containing haughty
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List 3
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Haughty, hypocritical Dingley, she fears, won’t want anything to do with the family once this scandal goes viral, which in the Regency period translates into a wildfire of whispering throughout polite society.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 14, 2025
Haughty, seething with resentment, her memory clouded by age, her will to dominance undiminished by frailty, Jackson's A is every inch an embittered queen.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 26, 2018
Haughty and proud, Napoleon refused to grace his tormentors’ behavior with any kind of response.
From Textbooks • Jan. 1, 2012
So it transpires that Raymond The Haughty is human.
From The Guardian • Jun. 18, 2010
Ms. Haughty Smile turned her icy blue eyes on him.
From "From Twinkle, with Love" by Sandhya Menon
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
