Synonyms

high-minded

American

[hahy-mahyn-did] / ˈhaɪˈmaɪn dɪd /

adjective

having or showing high, exalted principles or feelings.

Synonyms:

scrupulous, idealistic, ethical, fair, honest, principled

high-minded British

adjective

having or characterized by high moral principles
archaic arrogant; haughty

"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

Related Words

See noble.

Other Word Forms

high-mindedly adverb
high-mindedness noun

Etymology

Origin of high-minded

First recorded in 1495–1505

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.

Chesterton was raised in a high-minded Unitarianism whose morals he approved but whose understanding of God he found too thin to support the changes that he, as a man of the left, wanted.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 3, 2026

But Squibb isn’t given to high-minded thematic talk.

From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 3, 2025

I want to be very high-minded about this.

From Slate • Nov. 4, 2025

It threatens to drown out their own more high-minded projects.

From BBC • Oct. 11, 2025

Even though I knew these high-minded arguments would get me nowhere, I tried them anyway—Martin Luther King would be ashamed!—and they made the three girls shriek with laughter as they pushed me to the ground.

From "The Glass Castle" by Jeannette Walls

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023