tall
Americanadjective
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taller,
comparative
-
tallest
superlative
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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
-
( 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
Synonym Usage
See high.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Adjectives
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.
See Examples For:
The tall, athletic rugby and polo fan embarked on a decade-long military career that included two Afghanistan deployments, one as a helicopter pilot.
From Barron's ● Aug. 23, 2026
Stand tall on one leg and gently lean your upper body to one side while maintaining your balance.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 18, 2026
At almost 6ft tall, Hunt's major area for improvement remains her start.
From BBC ● Aug. 17, 2026
The strength of the response was tied more closely to how sharp each wrinkle was than to how tall it was.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 17, 2026
But it stopped for Tante Jans, brakes squealing, horses nearly falling over one another, and the driver tipped his tall hat as she swept aboard.
From "The Hiding Place" by Corrie ten Boom
This season he’ll get a chance to show what he can do against taller players as a cornerback.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 18, 2026
By early 2026, our continued surveys had identified and climbed ten Taiwania trees taller than 70 meters.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 4, 2026
When I entered through a small door at ground level he emerged from behind a low ceiling, and standing next to him I was no taller than his toes.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 31, 2026
Not only is the eyepatch-wearing young woman taller, stronger and more aggressive than the Asa he once knew, she grew up with their parents in the modern world.
From Salon ● Jul. 18, 2026
He stands next to a taller guy who plays lead guitar.
From "Legendary Frybread Drive-In" by Cynthia Leitich Smith
Our survey showed that the tallest stood 69.3 meters high and had a trunk nearly three meters wide.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 4, 2026
That photo of the traffic jam went viral and sparked a conversation about dangerous overcrowding on the world's tallest peak.
From BBC ● Jul. 31, 2026
The world's tallest unoccupied skyscraper was meant to boast a rooftop pool and a luxury hotel after completion, but instead it has stood deserted in the Chinese port city of Tianjin for years.
From Barron's ● Jul. 15, 2026
Jefferson stands tallest, as he did in real life.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 4, 2026
Then a shadow filled the doorway and the tallest woman I had ever seen stepped into the cell.
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.
