lofty
Americanadjective
-
extending high in the air; of imposing height; towering.
lofty mountains.
- Synonyms:
- elevated
-
exalted in rank, dignity, or character; eminent.
- Antonyms:
- lowly
-
elevated in style, tone, or sentiment, as writings or speech.
- Synonyms:
- sublime
-
arrogantly or condescendingly superior in manner; haughty.
to treat someone in a lofty manner.
- Synonyms:
- supercilious
- Antonyms:
- humble
-
Nautical. noting a rig of a sailing ship having extraordinarily high masts.
-
(of fabric or yarn) thick and resilient.
adjective
-
of majestic or imposing height
-
exalted or noble in character or nature
-
haughty or supercilious
-
elevated, eminent, or superior
Synonym Usage
See high.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Adjectives
Etymology
Origin of lofty
Explanation
Lofty is a good word for describing something that's high above the ground, or someone who acts like she's high above everyone else. Dating from the 15th century, lofty originally meant "exalted," or spiritually high, but soon came to mean physically high as well. A towering mountain can be called "lofty." So can someone who walks around with her nose in the air and speaks in a fake English accent. Even if she's only five-foot-two.
Vocabulary lists containing lofty
The Vocabulary.com Top 1000
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An "August" Assortment: Words Worthy of Honor
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"The Necklace" by Guy de Maupassant
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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:
Despite the lofty expectations, Piper Sandler expect the earnings strength to persist through early 2027.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 14, 2026
Tolo’s mission is lofty, if not entirely novel.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 13, 2026
A World Cup body of work that, even by the Real Madrid midfielder's lofty standards, has been as mesmerising as we've seen in an England shirt in recent major tournaments.
From BBC ● Jul. 11, 2026
“Haughty, hectoring and pleased with herself, she is single-handedly wrecking her hen-pecked husband Gavin’s lofty political ambitions.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 7, 2026
The high red sandstone walls were far too lofty to be scaled by any normal creature.
From "Redwall" by Brian Jacques
Gomez, a 2025 graduate of Da Vinci Communications, has a loftier long-term goal: amassing at least $1 million in his Roth by age 65.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 8, 2026
An uptick in business air travel is fueling loftier hopes for United Airlines, which is slated to report its holiday-quarter results this week.
From MarketWatch ● Jan. 19, 2026
"A loftier way of putting that is we're trying to outcompete the state," said Green, a former intern at the Adam Smith Institute, a pro-free market think tank.
From BBC ● Sep. 25, 2025
Coming off back-to-back seasons finishing outside of the Associated Press Top 25, Riley said he’s had to change aspects of the program to push toward loftier results.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 5, 2025
Let me explain what I mean by sharing my reaction to another passage, this one much loftier in tone and ambition than “Ask the Bird Folks.”
From "The Sense of Style" by Steven Pinker
While Halma’s guidance clears the consensus bar, it might fall short of the loftiest expectations, analysts at Jefferies wrote in a note to clients.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 11, 2026
US gross domestic product in the third quarter came in at 4.3 percent on an annualized basis, easily topping expectations and the loftiest growth in two years.
From Barron's ● Dec. 23, 2025
Ascending to football's loftiest heights challenges the senses, and Girona's surefootenedness at this level is already being rigorously tested.
From BBC ● Oct. 22, 2024
Van Scoyoc insisted “there’s always things you can do better,” and that even the loftiest of expectations can be surpassed.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 26, 2024
They were all three of the loftiest stature of women.
From "Jane Eyre" by Charlotte Brontë
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.
