high-flown

American  

[hahy-flohn] / ˈhaɪˈfloʊn /

adjective

1. extravagant in aims, pretensions, etc.

2. pretentiously lofty; bombastic.

   We couldn't endure his high-flown oratory.

   Synonyms:

   grandiloquent, magniloquent, flowery, florid

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high-flown British  

adjective

1. extravagant or pretentious in conception or intention

   high-flown ideas

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Etymology

Origin of high-flown

First recorded in 1640–50

Example Sentences

Abe’s are high-flown, pretentious — which is but one way this plot thread recalls the infamous electronic flirtation between the novelist Jonathan Safran Foer and the actress Natalie Portman.

From New York Times • Feb. 16, 2023

In the high-flown rhetoric of venture capital, the company’s CEO imagines a world where everything becomes an NFT, with no limits to where OpenSea’s 2.5 percent commission can reach.

From The Verge • Feb. 2, 2022

But such moments are rare and, for the most part, “The City We Became” is thrillingly expansive without ever becoming abstract or high-flown.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 18, 2020

We know that government - what Edwards does - is more detail than high-flown phrases.

From Washington Times • Jan. 15, 2020

This, only in more high-flown language, is what she’s written in the catalogue.

From "Cat's Eye" by Margaret Atwood