high-wrought

[ hahy-rawt ]

/ ˈhaɪˈrɔt /

highly agitated; overwrought.

Words nearby high-wrought

First recorded in 1595–1605

From this high-wrought picture, one would suppose that we were in a condition the most deplorable of any people upon earth.
Pamphlets On The Constitution Of The United States|Various
The death of Wallenstein does not cause tears; but it is perhaps the most high-wrought scene of the play.
The Life of Friedrich Schiller|Thomas Carlyle
Blank verse is judiciously mingled with lyric meters, which are only introduced at moments of high-wrought feeling.
Renaissance in Italy: Italian Literature|John Addington Symonds
She understood not his high-wrought scruples, his self-deluding belief.
Alice, or The Mysteries, Complete|Edward Bulwer-Lytton

"Gie's yer haun, my frien," said the man who had whispered in Jamie's ear, with an air of high-wrought enthusiasm.
Wilson's Tales of the Borders and of Scotland|Various