toplofty
Americanadjective
adjective
Other Word Forms
- toploftily adverb
- toploftiness noun
Etymology
Origin of toplofty
First recorded in 1820–30; back formation of earlier toploftical, extracted from top loft “the uppermost story, topmost gallery”; see top 1, lofty
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.
Reading the toplofty Mr. Grantham, one can almost hear the voice of Shakespeare’s Puck—“What fools these mortals be.”
From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 9, 2026
This settled quality makes Trilling’s letters a bit toplofty and dull.
From New York Times • Oct. 1, 2018
Every miler at Madison Square Garden had heard the I.O.C.'s toplofty President Avery Brundage's ominous pronouncement: "If I were a runner, I would not be running tonight against Santee."
From Time Magazine Archive
It often irritates politicians with toplofty editorials suggesting that the paper is not only on the side of the angels but right alongside them in heaven.
From Time Magazine Archive
You were too toplofty with her as it was.
From The Street Called Straight by Lowell, Orson
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.
