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
- haughtily adverb
- haughtiness noun
- overhaughtily adverb
- overhaughty adjective
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
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.
Surely, these can’t be two artists whose work is so frequently accused of haughty, style-obsessed self-importance?
From Salon • Mar. 27, 2026
Her haughty line deliveries and imperious bone structure cut through the screen like a knife.
From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 25, 2026
Her one condition, delivered in the haughty tone of an offended aristocrat, was that they sign a note guaranteeing repayment for the damage.
From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 19, 2025
In Ava Pickett's fresh adaptation, being staged at London's Rose Theatre, Emma Woodhouse still has all the trademark traits of our beloved original heroine – she's clever, quick-witted, meddling, haughty and occasionally cruel.
From BBC • Sep. 20, 2025
“Did I?” he asks with a haughty condescension, as though she has shown herself to be less clever than he had hoped.
From "The Cruel Prince" by Holly Black
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.
