haughty
Americanadjective
-
haughtier,
comparative
-
haughtiest
superlative
-
disdainfully proud; scornfully arrogant; snobbish; supercilious: a haughty salesclerk.
haughty aristocrats;
a haughty salesclerk.
- Synonyms:
- contemptuous, disdainful, lordly
- Antonyms:
- unassuming, unpretentious, humble
-
Archaic. lofty or noble; exalted.
adjective
-
having or showing arrogance
-
archaic noble or exalted
Synonym Usage
See proud.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Adjectives
Etymology
Origin of haughty
First recorded in 1520–30; obsolete haught (spelling variant of late Middle English haute, from Middle French, from Latin altus “high,” with h-, from Germanic; compare Old High German hok “high”) + -y 1
Explanation
Someone who is haughty is arrogant and full of pride. When you're haughty, you have a big attitude and act like you're better than other people. A haughty person acts superior and looks down on others. Haughty people are disdainful, overbearing, prideful, swaggering, and obnoxious. Acting amazed that others haven't heard of a hot new band is haughty. Speaking in a cocky or superior way is haughty. The word even sounds a little like its meaning: it's hard to say haughty without sounding like you have an attitude. If you're acting like others are beneath you, you're being haughty.
Vocabulary lists containing haughty
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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.
See Examples For:
As Marfil Cortés, the daughter of a Spanish business tycoon, she plays a young woman so beautiful and charming she would otherwise be haughty and annoying.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 9, 2026
Hermetically sealed tableaux of haughty models daring you to look away from their perfection.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 23, 2026
In the criminally short-lived series, Van Der Beek played a version of himself that was far more asinine and haughty than the actor was known to be in real life.
From Salon ● Feb. 15, 2026
In Ava Pickett's fresh adaptation, being staged at London's Rose Theatre, Emma Woodhouse still has all the trademark traits of our beloved original heroine – she's clever, quick-witted, meddling, haughty and occasionally cruel.
From BBC ● Sep. 20, 2025
Because as much as you might take the word of a haughty centaur, you know the power of friendship.
From "Harry Potter and the Cursed Child" by J.K. Rowling
The band lifts it up — the higher, the haughtier.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 12, 2023
But it also had the haughtier, more conceptual imprimatur of Post-Minimalism, arguably the last avant-garde art movement of classic modernism.
From New York Times ● Aug. 20, 2021
If Mr. Abloh’s roots in the street wear universe drew some clucking from the fashion world’s haughtier roosts, few would deny that a meaningful day was unfolding.
From New York Times ● Jun. 29, 2018
Today, you’ll find the haughtier designer shops closest to the Public Garden, but increasingly funkier boutiques as you walk west toward Massachusetts Avenue.
From New York Times ● Sep. 16, 2015
Facing down her own death, with the hissing of the sea behind her and the night spread out like a cape, she seemed to have grown taller, haughtier.
From "The Reader" by Traci Chee
The tale of Orpheus, whose song softens the hearts of the haughtiest deities, morphed into the spectacle of the famously demanding La Scala patrons, sitting in judgment on operatic superstars.
From New York Times ● Apr. 20, 2018
Inevitably, the haughtiest of haute cuisine artists will replace trendy menu items like ramps and aioli with space-sourced foodstuffs.
From Slate ● Aug. 19, 2015
Even the haughtiest of security hackers—those technologists whose skills are channeled toward fortifying computer security—who had earlier snubbed Anonymous cheered on LulzSec.
From Slate ● Dec. 8, 2014
Even the haughtiest firms must dance to the piper’s tune.
From Economist ● Sep. 11, 2014
Dussel replied in his haughtiest tone, “Ich madi das schon!”
From "The Diary of a Young Girl" by Anne Frank
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.
