high-strung
Americanadjective
Etymology
Origin of high-strung
First recorded in 1740–50
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.
We eagerly drink in the discord because the stakes are illusory, even if the high-strung emotions turn out to be real.
From Salon • Jan. 28, 2026
Tom is a law professor and his wife, Amy, is a frustrated and high-strung housewife.
From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 26, 2025
The high-strung kid is pure nerve and he even looks like one, too; he’s the embodiment of a twitch.
From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 23, 2025
He was young and high-strung, and by his own admission he didn’t handle failure well.
From Seattle Times • Apr. 29, 2024
The Hamiltons were strange, high-strung people, and some of them were tuned too high and they snapped.
From "East of Eden" by John Steinbeck
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.
