Synonyms

high tea

American

noun

British.

a late afternoon or early evening meal similar to a light supper.

high tea British

noun

See tea

"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

Etymology

Origin of high tea

First recorded in 1825–35

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.

See Examples For:

high tea

"I've taken Bear for a fancy high tea - he had his own one," she laughed.

From BBC ● Mar. 29, 2026

For my birthday, I just did an afternoon high tea at the Peninsula.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 11, 2025

And second, whatever you do, please don’t mistake your tea for high tea!

From Salon ● Jan. 6, 2024

My husband proposed to me in the rose garden, and it is where my friends and I have gathered for years for high tea on special and just “missed you” occasions.

From New York Times ● Jun. 10, 2022

Alisha was ready to throw in the towel, but Bonnie wanted to go for high tea at the Plaza Hotel.

From "Me Talk Pretty One Day" by David Sedaris

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