high-keyed
Americanadjective
adjective
-
having a high pitch; shrill
-
highly strung
-
bright in colour
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.
Much as he loves bright hues, his color is sometimes most affecting when least high-keyed — as in “Vincent and Tony,” a gorgeous study in browns and blues.
From Washington Post • Oct. 29, 2022
He had, by then, traded in rough-and-ready brushwork and modulated colors for graphic crispness and a high-keyed palette.
From New York Times • Feb. 13, 2020
The large sculptures depart from Carter’s prior work by draining rainbow color, usually high-keyed, from the mix.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 14, 2018
This aligns it with the 1960s California trend in painting and sculpture known as finish fetish, which found inspiration in the high-keyed colors and shiny surfaces of hot rods and surfboards.
From New York Times • Dec. 30, 2011
Aibileen shakes her head, breathes out a high-keyed “Huhhhhm,” takes a sip of her coffee.
From "The Help" by Kathryn Stockett
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.
