haughty

[haw-tee]

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adjective, haugh·ti·er, haugh·ti·est.

disdainfully proud; snobbish; scornfully arrogant; supercilious: haughty aristocrats; a haughty salesclerk.

Archaic. lofty or noble; exalted.

Nearby words

Origin of haughty

1520–30; obsolete haught (spelling variant of late Middle English haute < Middle French < Latin altus high, with h- < Germanic; compare Old High German hok high) + -y¹

SYNONYMS FOR haughty

1. lordly, disdainful, contemptuous. See proud.

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ANTONYMS FOR haughty

1. humble, unpretentious, unassuming.

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Related forms

haugh·ti·ly, adverbhaugh·ti·ness, nouno·ver·haugh·ti·ly, adverbo·ver·haugh·ti·ness, noun

o·ver·haugh·ty, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for haughty

Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall.
Why the World’s Armies Don’t Want U.S. Tech Anymore|Bill Sweetman|July 14, 2014|DAILY BEAST
But haughty talk may not dissuade Italians from following their former leader.
The ‘Unbreakable’ Silvio Berlusconi|Barbie Latza Nadeau|January 31, 2013|DAILY BEAST
But these are not times when we need to be uplifted and showered with haughty rhetoric.
Why I'm for Mitt|Justin Green|November 4, 2012|DAILY BEAST
They have to rebut his lies, and they have to do it without sounding bitter or afraid or superior or haughty.
Michael Tomasky on Paul Ryan’s Convention Speech and His Web of Lies|Michael Tomasky|August 30, 2012|DAILY BEAST

And not the least haughty or intimidating or acerbic, but helpful, constructive, and conscientious.
Putting Words in Gore Vidal’s Mouth—a Copywriter Recalls the 1982 Senate Campaign|Robert Chandler|August 6, 2012|DAILY BEAST
Such is the nature of the populace; they are either cringing slaves or haughty tyrants.
The History of Rome; Books Nine to Twenty-Six|Titus Livius
He could stay no longer in her presence, and with a haughty bow to the company rose to leave.
Mark Gildersleeve|John S. Sauzade
At all events, resistance must continue until the enemy abated his haughty demand of unconditional submission.
The Life of Jefferson Davis|Frank H. Alfriend
Even in London, however, his haughty injustice found occasions for making itself known.
The Collected Writing of Thomas De Quincey, Vol. II|Thomas De Quincey
He afterwards described Miss Rivers, of Riverscourt, as "a haughty young woman; but handsome as they make 'em!"
The Following of the Star|Florence L. Barclay

British Dictionary definitions for haughty

haughty

adjective -tier or -tiest

having or showing arrogance

archaic noble or exalted

Derived Formshaughtily, adverbhaughtiness, noun

Word Origin for haughty

C16: from Old French haut, literally: lofty, from Latin altus high

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

Word Origin and History for haughty

haughty

adj.

1520s, an extension of haught (q.v.) "high in one's own estimation" by addition of -y (2) on model of might/mighty, naught/naughty, etc. Middle English also had hautif in this sense (mid-15c., from Old French hautif). Related: Haughtily.