loftily
Americanadverb
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high in the air; in an imposing or towering manner.
The speaker raised his fist loftily skywards as he spoke, drawing forth cheers from the crowd.
The palace stands loftily at an imposing 2,000 ft above sea level, with an unhindered birds-eye view of a 13th century fort.
-
in a way that is elevated in rank, style, tone, or sentiment.
The editorial begins loftily with a quote from the Roman author Horace.
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in an arrogant or condescendingly superior way.
I'd be more impressed if the official commissioned a few economic reports, rather than loftily dismissing the arguments of his challengers as “nonsense.”
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of loftily
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.
Bye, bye, baby/ I’ll send for you/ Ain’t got much money right now/ I’ll come back a millionaire, he croons softly, loftily, at the end of “Hollywood.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 26, 2023
The president - a wealthy businessman and former liberation struggle icon, once backed by Nelson Mandela to succeed him - loftily declared that he was innocent.
From BBC ● Dec. 2, 2022
When his popularity underwent the second-quickest plunge in French presidential history, one of his advisers, asked what mistakes the government had made, answered loftily: “We were probably too intelligent, too subtle.”
From Washington Post ● Apr. 20, 2022
“It probably isn’t very logical or efficient to use music to investigate the true nature of being and the human condition,” Kate Soper writes in the notes for her loftily titled new album.
From New York Times ● Mar. 31, 2022
He dismisses the idea loftily and informs me I know nothing about it.
From "All Quiet on the Western Front: A Novel" by Erich Maria Remarque
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
