high-handed

[hahy-han-did]

adjective

1. condescending or presumptuous; overbearing; arbitrary.

   He has a highhanded manner.

high-handed

adjective

1. tactlessly overbearing and inconsiderate

Other Word Forms

• high-handedly adverb
• high-handedness noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of high-handed¹

First recorded in 1625–35

Related Words

• authoritarian 
• autocratic 
• dictatorial 
• imperious 
• overbearing 
• tyrannical