high-handed
Americanadjective
adjective
Other Word Forms
- high-handedly adverb
- high-handedness noun
Etymology
Origin of high-handed
First recorded in 1625–35
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.
Triggering the administration’s nuclear response on Friday was Anthropic’s high-handed refusal to give the Defense Department carte blanche to use its technology as it sees fit.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 1, 2026
But that relationship will always be hostage to events; either a flare-up in the South China Sea, or any other act by China seen as high-handed by the Vietnamese.
From BBC • Dec. 11, 2023
In countering misinformation, FDA also risks coming off as high-handed.
From Salon • Jul. 21, 2023
Britain did try that divorce once, in the mid-1600s, when parliamentary forces cut off the head of the high-handed King Charles I, and replaced him with a Commonwealth led by a politician-soldier named Oliver Cromwell.
From Los Angeles Times • May 9, 2023
“But your honor will not deny me this one and only poor privilege of protest against this high-handed outrage upon my citizen’s rights,” Anthony responded.
From "Votes for Women!" by Winifred Conkling
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.
