high-strung
Americanadjective
Etymology
Origin of high-strung
First recorded in 1740–50
Explanation
Someone who's high-strung is extremely nervous or overly sensitive. When your high-strung neighbor comes over for coffee, you may be tempted to secretly substitute decaf for regular. A high-strung dog will start trembling and shaking during a thunderstorm, and a high-strung horse is jittery and easily spooked by unfamiliar noises. You might even describe yourself as high-strung if you find it very hard to relax. Before high-strung was used in this figurative way, it was a musician's term. Today, a high-strung or "Nashville tuned" guitar is tuned an octave higher than normal, using finer guitar strings.
Vocabulary lists containing high-strung
Rosa Parks: My Story
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Gather
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Sweet Whispers, Brother Rush
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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.
Tom is a law professor and his wife, Amy, is a frustrated and high-strung housewife.
From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 26, 2025
The high-strung kid is pure nerve and he even looks like one, too; he’s the embodiment of a twitch.
From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 23, 2025
“Who shall say how far the high-strung, nervous, active temperament of the American people is due to the noise with which they choose to surround their daily lives?” the author asked.
From Salon • Sep. 12, 2024
He was young and high-strung, and by his own admission he didn’t handle failure well.
From Seattle Times • Apr. 29, 2024
“She is high-strung and has not been herself since that fainting fit she had on the evening of the reception.”
From "Secrets at Sea" by Richard Peck
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.
