highfalutin

American  

[hahy-fuh-loot-n] / ˌhaɪ fəˈlut n /

Also highfaluting or highfalutin',

adjective

Informal.

1. seeming or trying to seem superior, important, etc.; pompous; pretentious.

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highfalutin British  

/ ˌhaɪfəˈluːtɪn /

adjective

1. informal pompous or pretentious

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Etymology

Origin of highfalutin

First recorded in 1830–40; high + falutin (perhaps originally flutin, variant of fluting, present participle of flute )

Explanation

Someone who's highfalutin thinks they're much fancier than other people. Your highfalutin cousin likes to sound impressive by using words like perspicacious and abnegation, though she doesn't really know what they mean. The U.S. slang term highfalutin was coined around 1840, possibly from high-flying or the Yiddish hifelufelem, "nonsense." It's an appropriately folksy word to use when poking fun at people who put on airs. Your highfalutin classmate might constantly quote Shakespeare, show off his expensive new watch, refer often to his travels abroad, and generally act pretentious and condescending toward everyone else.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

highfalutin

On “Critics Corner,” Shalit favored humor over the highfalutin.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 13, 2026

Gilgamesh’s lament is not the stylized keening of epic tradition—not Achilles’ highfalutin howls after Hector strikes down Patroclus—but something rawer, humbler, more recognizably human.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 24, 2026

And it could have a huge impact on the game because, at the risk of getting highfalutin, it would require a new way of thinking about time.

From BBC ● Apr. 14, 2025

A second inscription at the Missouri School of Journalism, my alma mater, is also on the mark, though it’s even more mockable and highfalutin: "The Schoolmaster to the People."

From Salon ● Jan. 5, 2025

I’d overhear the reporters at The Welch Daily News make jokes to one another about the highfalutin writers who worked at those papers.

From "The Glass Castle" by Jeannette Walls