high-toned
Americanadjective
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having high principles; dignified.
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having or aspiring to good taste, high standards, or refinement.
He writes for a high-toned literary review.
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affectedly stylish or genteel.
adjective
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having a superior social, moral, or intellectual quality
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affectedly superior
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high in tone
Etymology
Origin of high-toned
First recorded in 1770–80
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.
With its crisp acidity and bright fruit, this high-toned wine seemed more akin to Pinot Noir than to Malbec.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 16, 2025
“The Gilded Age” has always plied high-toned melodrama as its chief asset, but Season 3 ripens the starched formality of previous episodes into succulence.
From Salon ● Jun. 22, 2025
Wielding a double-barreled shotgun in his review for The New York Times, the critic Stephen Holden dismissed Sparks’s book as “treacly” and called the film “a high-toned cinematic greeting card.”
From New York Times ● Mar. 8, 2024
Blending syrah into the region’s signature malbec lends depth and body to malbec’s high-toned blueberry fruit and supple tannins.
From Washington Post ● Apr. 27, 2023
Back here there were fancy shops and high-toned bars, still operating.
From "Middlesex: A Novel" by Jeffrey Eugenides
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.
