high-flown

American  

[hahy-flohn] / ˈhaɪˈfloʊn /

adjective

1. extravagant in aims, pretensions, etc.

2. pretentiously lofty; bombastic.

   We couldn't endure his high-flown oratory.

   Synonyms:

   grandiloquent, magniloquent, flowery, florid

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high-flown British  

adjective

1. extravagant or pretentious in conception or intention

   high-flown ideas

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Etymology

Origin of high-flown

First recorded in 1640–50

Explanation

A person is considered high-flown if he tries to sound smarter or fancier than he really is. The adjective high-flown particularly comes in handy when you're describing overblown, pretentious writing. You can also describe overly lofty plans as high-flown: "The six year-old's intention to build a tree house with wall-to-wall carpeting, electric lights, and plumbing seemed a little high-flown to me."

Example Sentences

Cinema purists have a tendency to speak of the theatrical experience in such high-flown spiritual terms.

From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 22, 2023

Abe’s are high-flown, pretentious — which is but one way this plot thread recalls the infamous electronic flirtation between the novelist Jonathan Safran Foer and the actress Natalie Portman.

From New York Times • Feb. 16, 2023

In the high-flown rhetoric of venture capital, the company’s CEO imagines a world where everything becomes an NFT, with no limits to where OpenSea’s 2.5 percent commission can reach.

From The Verge • Feb. 2, 2022

You’d hardly want to be seen writing in the Café de Flore in Paris, would you, no matter how high-flown your topic.

From The Guardian • Apr. 28, 2020

She couldn’t bear hearing high-flown talk she didn’t understand.

From "In the Time of the Butterflies" by Julia Alvarez