high-flown
Americanadjective
-
extravagant in aims, pretensions, etc.
-
pretentiously lofty; bombastic.
We couldn't endure his high-flown oratory.
- Synonyms:
- grandiloquent, magniloquent, flowery, florid
adjective
Etymology
Origin of high-flown
First recorded in 1640–50
Explanation
A person is considered high-flown if he tries to sound smarter or fancier than he really is. The adjective high-flown particularly comes in handy when you're describing overblown, pretentious writing. You can also describe overly lofty plans as high-flown: "The six year-old's intention to build a tree house with wall-to-wall carpeting, electric lights, and plumbing seemed a little high-flown to me."
Vocabulary lists containing high-flown
Idioms and Expressions, List 4
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Idioms and Expressions, List 4
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Anne of Avonlea
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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.
Cinema purists have a tendency to speak of the theatrical experience in such high-flown spiritual terms.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 22, 2023
In the high-flown rhetoric of venture capital, the company’s CEO imagines a world where everything becomes an NFT, with no limits to where OpenSea’s 2.5 percent commission can reach.
From The Verge ● Feb. 2, 2022
It’s an irony that Orwell, ever alert to the stubborn discrepancy between reality and high-flown fantasies, might have appreciated.
From New York Times ● Jan. 13, 2021
You’d hardly want to be seen writing in the Café de Flore in Paris, would you, no matter how high-flown your topic.
From The Guardian ● Apr. 28, 2020
This, only in more high-flown language, is what she’s written in the catalogue.
From "Cat's Eye" by Margaret Atwood
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
