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hifalutin

or hi·fa·lu·tin'

[hahy-fuh-loot-n]
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adjective
  1. highfalutin.
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highfalutin

or high·fa·lu·tin', hi·fa·lu·tin, hi·fa·lu·tin'

[hahy-fuh-loot-n]
adjective Informal.
  1. pompous; bombastic; haughty; pretentious.
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Also high·fa·lu·ting [hahy-fuh-loo-ting, hahy-fuh-loot-n] /ˌhaɪ fəˈlu tɪŋ, ˌhaɪ fəˈlut n/.

Origin of highfalutin

1830–40; high + falutin (perhaps orig. flutin, variant of fluting, present participle of flute)
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for hifalutin

Historical Examples

  • He has no useless flourish in his manner, and none of the 'hifalutin' in his style.

    Music and Some Highly Musical People

    James M. Trotter

  • Nor, Im jes er plain ole biznes man,—I ain got no fightin sense like dese rip snortin, hifalutin solger boys.

    Bypaths in Dixie

    Sarah Johnson Cocke

  • He said at the time that he knew she'd bring him bad luck—she being his thirteenth—and she did, she was that hifalutin.

    The Lions of the Lord

    Harry Leon Wilson

  • "That's her hifalutin way of putting on the dog, nurse," Doctor Parris grinned wickedly.

    Old Mr. Wiley

    Fanny Greye La Spina

  • I fed and bedded your hifalutin' chickens though I'm sort of uneasy around that one high-steppin' rooster.

    The Black Fawn

    James Arthur Kjelgaard

British Dictionary definitions for hifalutin

hifalutin

adjective
  1. a variant spelling of highfalutin
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highfalutin

hifalutin highfaluting

adjective
  1. informal pompous or pretentious
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Word Origin

C19: from high + -falutin, perhaps variant of fluting, from flute
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