high profile

American

noun

a deliberately conspicuous manner of living or operating.

high profile British

noun

1. a position or approach characterized by a deliberate seeking of prominence or publicity
2. ( as modifier ) Compare low profile
  
  a high-profile campaign

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

high-profile adjective

Etymology

Origin of high profile

First recorded in 1965–70

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.

Cuba often makes mass prisoner releases in conjunction with high profile events.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 3, 2026

"They're very high profile fires in main streets," he added, "and that has an impact on the psyche on the city."

From BBC • Mar. 13, 2026

After refusing the Defense Department’s demands over the use of its artificial intelligence assistant Claude, the Anthropic platform has gained a high profile on Apple’s App Store, currently the top downloaded free app.

From Barron's • Mar. 3, 2026

Police said retired Major General Suresh Sallay was taken into custody at dawn in a suburb of the capital, Colombo in the most high profile arrest in the long-running investigation.

From Barron's • Feb. 25, 2026

The current high profile of literacy is symptomatic of a speedy, ruthless transition from an industrial to an information-based economy.

From The Civilization of Illiteracy by Nadin, Mihai

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023