highfalutin

highfalutin
also hifalutin adjective Etymology: perhaps from 2high + alteration of fluting, present participle of flute Date: 1839 1. pretentious, fancy 2. expressed in or marked by the use of high-flown bombastic language ; pompous

New Collegiate Dictionary. 2001.

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  • highfalutin — highfaluting highfaluting highfalutin highfalutin adj. Affectedly genteel; pretentious; haughty; snobbish. [Written also {hifalutin}.] [informal] Syn: grandiose, hifalutin, hoity toity, la di da. [WordNet 1.5] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • highfalutin' — highfaluting highfaluting highfalutin highfalutin adj. Affectedly genteel; pretentious; haughty; snobbish. [Written also {hifalutin}.] [informal] Syn: grandiose, hifalutin, hoity toity, la di da. [WordNet 1.5] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • highfalutin — high fa*lu tin, highfaluting high fa*lu ting, n. [Perh. a corruption of highflighting.] High flown, bombastic language. [Written also {hifalutin}.] [Jocular, U. S.] Lowell. [1913 Webster] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • highfalutin — [adj] pompous arrogant, boastful, conceited, flaunting, grandiose, high and mighty*, important, lofty, ostentatious, overbearing, presumptuous, pretentious, puffed up*, puffy, self centered, stuck up*, swanky, uppity*, vain; concepts 267,401,542 …   New thesaurus

  • highfalutin — (also highfaluting) ► ADJECTIVE informal ▪ pompous or pretentious. ORIGIN perhaps from HIGH(Cf. ↑high) + fluting …   English terms dictionary

  • highfalutin — ☆ highfalutin [hī′fə lo͞ot′ n ] adj. [altered < ? high floating, with intrusive vowel in ridicule of oratorical speech] Informal ridiculously pretentious or pompous: also sp. highfaluting …   English World dictionary

  • highfalutin — [[t]ha͟ɪfəlu͟ːtɪn[/t]] ADJ GRADED (disapproval) People sometimes use highfalutin to describe something that they think is being made to sound complicated or important in order to impress people. [INFORMAL, OLD FASHIONED] This isn t highfalutin… …   English dictionary

  • highfalutin — /huy feuh looht n/, adj. Informal. pompous; bombastic; haughty; pretentious. Also, highfalutin , hifalutin, hifalutin , highfaluting /huy feuh looh ting, looht n/. [1830 40; HIGH + falutin (perh. orig. flutin, var. of fluting, prp. of FLUTE)] * * …   Universalium

  • highfalutin — adjective /ˌhaɪ.fəˈlu.tɨn,ˈhaɪ.fəˌlu.tɨn/ Self important, pompous; arrogant or egotistical; tending to show off or hold oneself in unduly high regard. Its only a matter of time before some highfalutin developer builds a huge hotel and ruins the… …   Wiktionary

  • highfalutin — high|fa|lu|tin [ˌhaıfəˈlu:tın US tn] adj informal [Date: 1800 1900; Origin: high + falutin, perhaps from fluting making a high sound (as if) on the flute ] highfalutin language or behaviour seems silly although it is intended to be impressive… …   Dictionary of contemporary English

  • highfalutin — proud, pretentious    We need a musician, not some highfalutin rock star! …   English idioms

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