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.
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
After the last Ice Age, rising seas and coastal erosion carved and exposed the towering structures along the shoreline.
From Science Daily • Apr. 30, 2026
It was a towering spectacle in the sun.
From BBC • Apr. 27, 2026
In lieu of towering screens and moments concocted for capture, we find a packed dance floor and the silhouettes of two DJs putting in the work.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 26, 2026
Here, every vista ended in the same concrete barrier; the camp was set down in a vast man-made valley rising on every side to those towering wire-topped walls.
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.
