What does high and mighty mean? High and mighty is often used as an adverb meaning in an arrogant or self-important manner, as in Please stop acting so high and mighty—you’re not the boss here. The word mighty means strong, powerful, or of great importance. When someone acts as if they are superior or in charge, they can be said to be acting high and mighty. This is especially the case when they’re not actually superior or in charge. High and mighty can also be used as an adjective, in which case it’s often hyphenated (high-and-mighty), as in Take your high-and-mighty attitude elsewhere—we work as a team here. The phrase can also be used as a collective noun to refer to people who are considered powerful, as in The high and mighty take too much and give too little. The word mighty can be used in the same way, as in The rich and mighty hold all the power. Example: Don’t get all high and mighty with me—I’m the one who trained you.
First recorded in 1400–50; Middle English: originally a title of dignity
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
And in its high and mighty position, it became an object of ridicule.
From Barron's ● May 2, 2026
And they sit on this committee, and they sit there so high and mighty.
From Salon ● Dec. 13, 2023
Suddenly gari had become food that was served at gatherings for the high and mighty and it was fashionable.
From BBC ● May 28, 2022
"If a professor comes in and he’s all high and mighty and using words they don’t understand — that doesn’t help them relax and think," he said of students.
From Fox News ● Jan. 26, 2022
“None of them high and mighty folks in Montpelier offered to pay me a hundred dollars not to report a runaway, now have they?”
From "Lyddie" by Katherine Paterson
He could be pretty high-and-mighty, and certainly not exactly a small-d democrat.
From Slate ● Feb. 16, 2026
But in both fields, one must live up to their high-and-mighty ambitions, or risk being laughed out of the ring.
From Salon ● Oct. 4, 2025
Another high-and-mighty Oscar-nominated sports drama—this time about baseball— that Brad Pitt, Jonah Hill and company somehow turned into both an analytical deep-dive and a fine piece of cinema.
From Golf Digest ● Mar. 19, 2020
They assume — not everybody, right — but they assume that you’re some kind of high-and-mighty person.
From Washington Post ● Mar. 8, 2019
The nation of France, especially, has gotten all high-and-mighty about threatening to remove their associations from South Africa.
From "The Poisonwood Bible" by Barbara Kingsolver
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.
