high-sounding

[hahy-soun-ding]

See more synonyms for high-sounding on Thesaurus.com

adjective

having an impressive or pretentious sound; grand: the high-sounding titles of minor officials.

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Origin of high-sounding

First recorded in 1550–60

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for high-sounding

Contemporary Examples

He gave himself a high-sounding title: Photo Coordinator for the Western Front.
From Robert Capa’s Editor, Unearthed Scenes of Normandy, Summer 1944
Christopher Dickey
June 6, 2014
It certainly seems to have the high-sounding tome of a presidential pronouncement.
The Obama Doctrine At Last?
Andrew Roberts
February 27, 2011
Click Image To View Our Gallery of Memorable U.N. Moments For all the high-sounding rhetoric, this is an awful week.
The Hotspots No Speech Can Fix
Leslie H. Gelb
September 23, 2009

Historical Examples

Bubble-characters have burst, and high-sounding phrases have been exploded.
Shoulder-Straps
Henry Morford
He has been deluded by a high-sounding prophecy, and it has come to little.
Simon Dale
Anthony Hope
Yes, boys—both of them, for all their priestly and high-sounding titles.
Historic Boys
Elbridge Streeter Brooks
They all call themselves Portuguese, and own high-sounding Portuguese surnames.
The Idler Magazine, Vol III. May 1893
Various
My nephew's children named them, which accounts for their high-sounding titles.
The Lilac Lady
Ruth Alberta Brown

British Dictionary definitions for high-sounding

high-sounding

adjective

another term for high-flown

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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