tall
Americanadjective
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having a relatively great height; of more than average stature: tall grass.
a tall woman;
tall grass.
- Antonyms:
- short
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having stature or height as specified.
a man six feet tall.
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large in amount or degree; considerable.
a tall price;
Swinging that deal is a tall order.
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extravagant; difficult to believe.
a tall tale.
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He engages in so much tall talk, one never really knows what he's saying.
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having more than usual length; long and relatively narrow.
He carried a tall walking stick.
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(of a drink) consisting of liquor mixed with other ingredients and served in a large glass, as a cocktail.
We watched as he put together a Mamie Taylor, a tall drink with Scotch, ginger beer, and lime.
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Tall, (of beverages at Starbucks coffee shops) being of a small size equal to 12 ounces (354 milliliters).
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Archaic. valiant.
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Obsolete.
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seemly; proper.
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fine; handsome.
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adverb
noun
adjective
-
of more than average height
-
-
(postpositive) having a specified height
a woman five feet tall
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( in combination )
a twenty-foot-tall partition
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informal exaggerated or incredible
a tall story
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informal difficult to accomplish
a tall order
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an archaic word for excellent
Related Words
See high.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of tall
First recorded before 1000; Middle English: “big, bold, comely, proper, ready,” Old English getæl (plural getale ) “quick, ready, competent”; cognate with Old High German gizal “quick”
Explanation
If you can easily slap the ceiling with the palm of your hand, you're tall. The measure of your height tells you exactly how tall you are. You don't have to be tall to be a good basketball player, but it can come in handy when you're trying to get the ball in the basket. When it's not describing a person's stature, the adjective tall might refer to a beverage, like a tall glass of lemonade. A tall tale is an outlandish, hard-to-believe story, and a tall order is a really unreasonable request. And when you stand tall, you act confidently.
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.
It’s the 12th Starship test, and will debut version three of the Starship, which stands some 408 feet tall, with the booster and upper stage stacked on top of one another.
From Barron's • May 22, 2026
“When you are 3 feet tall, it’s your whole field of vision,” Hildreth said.
From Los Angeles Times • May 22, 2026
It’s the 12th Starship test, and will debut version three of the Starship, which stands some 408 feet tall, with the booster and upper stage stacked on top of one another.
From Barron's • May 22, 2026
By the time I was a senior in high school, I was 6 feet tall.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 19, 2026
I splashed through the slush, trying to keep up with the strides of her tall boots.
From "The Hiding Place" by Corrie ten Boom
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.
