towering
Americanadjective
-
very high or tall; lofty.
a towering oak.
- Synonyms:
- elevated
- Antonyms:
- short
-
surpassing others; very great.
a towering figure in American poetry.
-
rising to an extreme degree of violence or intensity.
a towering rage.
-
beyond the proper or usual limits; inordinate; excessive.
towering pride; towering ambitions.
adjective
-
very tall; lofty
-
outstanding, as in importance or stature
-
(prenominal) very intense
a towering rage
Related Words
See high.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of towering
From a late Middle English word dating back to 1400–50; see origin at tower 1, -ing 2
Explanation
Towering things are extremely tall, like the towering skyscrapers in New York City or the towering redwoods in northern California. Use the adjective towering to describe gigantic things that loom over everything (or everyone) else. There's the towering basketball player in your yoga class who is at least a foot taller than the other students, and the towering addition your neighbor is building on his house — the one that will block your view of the lake. The verb tower means "to rise high," from the Latin for "tower," turris.
Vocabulary lists containing towering
Living Large: Synonyms for "Big"
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Unit 4: Powerful Openings
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"The Lotus Seed"
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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.
At the entrance of a sprawling military encampment some 100 kilometres away from Derna, a towering portrait of Haftar overlooked the scene.
From Barron's • May 17, 2026
Hubble's images revealed towering filament-like structures extending from only one side of the disk, while the opposite side appears sharply defined and lacks similar features.
From Science Daily • May 12, 2026
In a bejeweled white pantsuit and towering stiletto pumps, Megyn Kelly tried to work the crowd like a rock star.
From Slate • May 6, 2026
While big American banks spurned poor, non-English-speaking immigrants, Jarmulowsky welcomed them and soon became a towering figure in the city’s Jewish community.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 5, 2026
The rain beat down and the black river roared while Roosevelt shivered under the towering trees.
From "Death on the River of Doubt" by Samantha Seiple
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.
